Wind Turbine
Overview
This project was an engineering design challenge that was cost-efficient, effective and capable to maximize electricity production, given a number of constraints.
This project was done at UC Berkeley for E26: Three-Dimensional Modeling for Design class.
The video shows the wind turbine at rest and then turned on. At initial start-up, the voltage generated by the turbine was 4.64 volts, seen at the end of the video.
Features
Wind Turbine tower standing at 15'' and capable of generating 1.013 Watts.
Designed blade and tower within one semester, on top of busy classes.
In the picture, the blade is spinning at a speed of 4,500 RPM generating 2.95 Volts.
Here we can see the full assembly. In the picture to the right, the blade is spinning at a speed of about 24.5 mph. Here are some more specs of the tower:
Height: 15.5''
Weight: 335.9 grams
Material: Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
Blade Speed: 4500 RPM
Maximum Power Generated: 1.013 Watts
Tower stiffness: 5.21 N/mm
Testing
Here, the stiffness of the tower was tested. In the picture, the top of the tower is connected to a series of weights which are the black weight to the left of the tower.
Each small weight was 0.1 kg and the bigger weight was 1 kg.
The maximum load the tower was able to withstand was 2 kg with a displacement of 3.77 mm.
The tower failed at 3 kg (29.4 N) and fractured in half, but luckily I was able to meet all the given constraints.
Process
Below are photos of the design using Solidworks.