Our Technical Turbine Team has designed a test turbine in Solidworks by selectively adjusting component designs to maximize performance in the Collegiate Wind Competition, while strictly adhering to all guidelines and restrictions provided.
Illustrated below are our predominant assemblies.
Composed of blades, bearings, and the central hub; this assembly has the multi faceted purpose of converting wind energy into mechanical and actively responding to pitching angles.
The shaft assembly consists of a shaft, brake disk and generator coupling. Its role is to transmit the mechanical power from the rotor to the generator while aslo providing a platorm for the brake disk to sit.
Composed of an upper segmented bracket, lower electrical housing, and yawing fin; this assembly is responsible for providing a strong platform for all mechanical action from actuating the pitching mechanism and brakes all the way to yawing the turbine upwind.
Composed of a range of material sources, the tower has been optimized to provide static structure to the rest of the functional assemblies, as well as acting as a dynamic hub for power transportation and communication with the operators.
In order to manufacture our design, the team has utilized strategic outsourcing of components, in house machining for high stressed components, and 3D printing.
By accepting our inability to manufacture every component, our team has been able to learn more about product testing mass produced products and excelling in compatibility among parts and procedures.
In house machining will be serving its purpose throughout our project as a crutch for any parts that will be under high stresses or constant loading. The precision of the machining will also allow for a tighter toleranced final product.
As our most common form of prototyping, rapid 3D printing has served as a vital operation point for our team. It has allowed us to make complex geometries without specialized tooling, and allows for rapid testing and adaptation.
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