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.

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.

Screw column to base.

Press bearings into housings and fasten to column.

Insert shaft through bearing and mount locking collars and nuts.

Screw blades onto nose cone and secure with locking nuts.

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

Finally attach motor and tension the belt.