Small Scale Wind Turbine

This wind turbine was designed by 4 Glasgow School of Art students as part of our Product Design Engineering course. The aim of this project was to create a wind turbine that would yield the highest power output when in a wind tunnel. This particular design proved to be the best ever and produced a little over 20 volts when loaded with a sizable resistor.

Step 1: Component Parts

All component parts. Some size-able machinery is required for a project such as this, for example:
Welder, engineering lathe, turret mill, accurate metal cutting saw, drill press, rapid prototyper and more.

Components:

Column, 5 aerofoil blades , main shaft, 2 shaft bearings (C3 (loose running), not sealed so grease can be replaced by light oil), 2 shaft locking collars, nose cone, 24 volt rated motor, 2 pulley wheels with a 3.75 : 1 ratio, drive belt, motor mount and various nuts and bolts.

Step 2:

Screw column to base.

Step 3:

Press bearings into housings and fasten to column.

Step 4:

Insert shaft through bearing and mount locking collars and nuts.

Step 5:

Screw blades onto nose cone and secure with locking nuts.

Step 6:

Srcew pulley wheel and blaed assembly onto the main shaft ensuring all is well centered and balanced.

Step 7:

Finally attach motor and tension the belt.

Step 8: The Finnished Article.