Project 0.0.0 Designing Wind Power

Introduction

Wind power is becoming more popular everyday as a source of Renewable Non-Exhaustible energy. Wind farms are becoming a way for the traditional farmer to farm wind while still maintaining much of his land for farming crops. Wind Turbines that are used to harness the wind and produce the electricity. If you have ever seen a wind farm you may have wondered how big a wind turbine really is and maybe what the fins are shaped like. In this activity you will not only find those answers, but you will also have the opportunity to design and create your own wind turbine design and compete against your classmates to see who creates the wind turbine with the greatest efficiency.

In this activity you will work with your design teams to research, design, decision make and prototype a wind turbine blade that will power a farm in a remote part of the United States. This turbine blade must not only be efficient and durable, but it must also be made adjust able so in high winds the wind turbine can be shut off by rotating the blades mounted position.

Equipment

·  GTT notebook

·  Pencil

·  Computer with Internet and CAD program access

·  Wind turbine base

·  Designing Wind Power Point presentation

Procedure

In your engineering teams you will follow the steps of the design process to brainstorm, sketch, prototype, and test your teams best suited turbine blade design. All of your paperwork must be kept organized and on hand for inspections that could take place at any time. Keep all sketches and turn them into your teacher to be scanned in and added to your electronic engineer’s notebook. Document, document, document! As you work through the design process each student must document each step to fulfill each step in the process.

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____Step 1: Research existing wind turbine blade designs and find out how their shape relates to the shape of and air plane wing. Hint: airfoil.

____Step 2: Brainstorm by sketching out as many different designs of a wind turbine blade as you can think of. Keep all sketches.

____Step 3: You and your partner will pick the best 6 designs you came up with, give each design a name and add it to the decision matrix under ideas.

____Step 4: Once you have used the decision matrix to pick the best design you will begin to make prototypes out of foam to be tested on the wind turbine. See specifications sheet for exact sizes.

____Step 5: After testing and retesting your prototype you will now use the 3D modeling program to design your perfected blade on the computer. Use a dial caliper to measure your prototype and recreate it on the computer to its exact specifications. Your completed design will be printed on the 3D printer and you are now ready for competition.

____Step 6: Make sure you have completed all documentation in this assignment and turn this packet along with all sketches and prototyped blades to your instructor.

1.  Define Problem

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2.  Generate Ideas (brainstorming)

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3.  Develop Solution (sketches, decision matrix)

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4.  Construct and Test Prototype

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5.  Evaluate Solution

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Criteria
Ideas: / Weight / Durability / Material Amount / Adjustable off / Proven Design / Totals

Recording Data

Voltage Produced
Fan on High
Fan on Low
Average

Conclusion

1.  After observing you and your classmates wind turbine designs does the overall size of the turbine blade play a role in how much voltage it will produce? Explain.

2.  Would your design have produced enough electricity to power the common flashlight bulb?

3.  Now that you have completed your first wind turbine blade design what would you have done differently to increase its voltage output.

Wind Turbine Blade Specifications

1.  Blade must fit into wind turbine hub.

2.  Blades when installed and spinning must not exceed an 8 inch diameter

3.  You may only install 3 blades into the wind turbine hub.

4.  Blades should be adjustable and rotate mechanically to shut off the turbine while the wind speeds are too high.