Engineering 10 Intro to Engineering Wind Turbine Report
Project Summary:
This engineering project was about a variety of elements that pertain to a “home-made” turbine. The main purpose of the turbine project was to design and construct a turbine using material around the lab, while maintaining the project requirements. The turbine was to be completed in one week, where it would be ready to be tested for power, stiffness, and weight. Everyone in the group would have to work together to make sure the turbine would be completed on time. In addition to the turbine structure, a motor blade is needed with ample efficiency to produce power. The design of the blade was done using the Inventor Program 2012 and the blade was made by the lab assistant. Overall, the final product had to withstand the force of a 25 mph gust wind, while still outputting an efficient amount of RPM to light up 7 light bulbs, and having the least amount of displacement as possible. The project seemed very exciting to the group at first. The team was eager to get started on the design of the turbine structure, while of course keeping in mind the guidelines that were stated. Initially they thought of just using balsa wood for the entire structure, but after having a discussion, the team decided to be more unique and use a more hollow substance. The team then realized that Pringles Cans were the perfect balance between light and stiffness because of the hollow interior and perfect cylinder shape which made a good center for the structure. The team used one full Pringles can and about ¼ of another can, which added up to exactly 17.03 inches when stacked on top of each other. The full Pringles can was mounted to the base board using hot glue. Then, we hot glued the smaller can on top of the full can. To top it off, we hot glued the top board on the smaller can and screwed two hooks on the bottom of the small board.
The team used only the tools that were provided in the lab to build the structure. Most of the materials were bought outside of
This engineering project was about a variety of elements that pertain to a “home-made” turbine. The main purpose of the turbine project was to design and construct a turbine using material around the lab, while maintaining the project requirements. The turbine was to be completed in one week, where it would be ready to be tested for power, stiffness, and weight. Everyone in the group would have to work together to make sure the turbine would be completed on time. In addition to the turbine structure, a motor blade is needed with ample efficiency to produce power. The design of the blade was done using the Inventor Program 2012 and the blade was made by the lab assistant. Overall, the final product had to withstand the force of a 25 mph gust wind, while still outputting an efficient amount of RPM to light up 7 light bulbs, and having the least amount of displacement as possible. The project seemed very exciting to the group at first. The team was eager to get started on the design of the turbine structure, while of course keeping in mind the guidelines that were stated. Initially they thought of just using balsa wood for the entire structure, but after having a discussion, the team decided to be more unique and use a more hollow substance. The team then realized that Pringles Cans were the perfect balance between light and stiffness because of the hollow interior and perfect cylinder shape which made a good center for the structure. The team used one full Pringles can and about ¼ of another can, which added up to exactly 17.03 inches when stacked on top of each other. The full Pringles can was mounted to the base board using hot glue. Then, we hot glued the smaller can on top of the full can. To top it off, we hot glued the top board on the smaller can and screwed two hooks on the bottom of the small board.
The team used only the tools that were provided in the lab to build the structure. Most of the materials were bought outside of