Wind Turbine Design
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| Vestas Wind Systems. "V112-3.0 MW". Photo. Vestas.com. 12 Apr. 2013. <http://www.vestas.com>. |
The purpose of this project is to design a wind turbine that runs as efficiently as possible and successfully converts wind energy to electrical energy. This will be done by creating a mechanical design with the help of 3-Dimensional computer drawings from Creo Parametric.
The components of the design include gears, shafts, blades, and a housing. Different gear ratios need to be designed for the efficient conversion of wind energy into electrical energy from a given wind speed. In order to obtain the highest amount of energy from changing wind speeds, a transmission needs to be designed to successfully change from gear to gear. The gears and shafts of the transmission will sit within a housing that will be designed as aerodynamically as possible to conserve the most possible energy. Also, in order to produce rotational mechanical energy, blades need to be designed to collect wind energy and translate it into a rotational motion.
All in all, the successful integration of each part, if designed correctly, will satisfy the desired goal of converting wind energy to electrical energy through a mechanical design. This project will provide a foundational knowledge of gears, shafts, transmissions, and the successful use of mechanical energy for daily applications.
The final product will be tested in a Flotek 1440 wind tunnel. The design will be exposed to three different wind speeds produced by the wind tunnel. The goal is to optimize the amount of electrical energy produced at each wind speed.
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| GDJ, Inc., "Flotek Wind Tunnel Brochure". 2013. Schematic. 8 May 2013. |
- Fit within a 12" x 12" x 12" space
- Have a minimum of 3 gear speeds
- Have a maximum of 5 gear speeds
- Have an overall wingspan under 10"
Page Sources:
"Wind Turbine Design Competition". 1 Apr 2013. PDF file.
