Wind Power B/C

[dragonfruit35]

I don't have much experience with this event and I was just wondering what some of you are using to test your design.

You'll need a CD motor, which you can order off Amazon, and somewhere to mount it.

[GoofyFoofer]

Does anyone have any vertical-axis designs? They are allowed in the rules, but seem very limited and inefficient compared to even the worst of the horizontal-axis ones (especially when one takes into consideration the fact that we can only go 2 cm up or down).

[0ddrenaline]

Does anyone have any vertical-axis designs? They are allowed in the rules, but seem very limited and inefficient compared to even the worst of the horizontal-axis ones (especially when one takes into consideration the fact that we can only go 2 cm up or down).

I've seen them in competition, but I don't think that they are very good. What is one of the largest benefits of vertical-axis designs in the real world? They work in any wind direction, so you don't need a complicated yaw drive system run by a computer in order to make the turbine face the wind. However, we have complete control over the direction in which the wind blows, so I think you should always use horizontal-axis. Also, you said that the turbine can only be 2 cm in front of or behind the mounting plane, but that is only true behind the mounting plane. On the front side, the turbine can be as long as you want.

[Noel]

Does anyone have any vertical-axis designs? They are allowed in the rules, but seem very limited and inefficient compared to even the worst of the horizontal-axis ones (especially when one takes into consideration the fact that we can only go 2 cm up or down).

The mount is designed for a standard CD to attach to it...so there is no way to make an effective VAWT without any construction violations. I recommend just working to make the best HAWT, they are easier to construct and won't put you at risk of getting tiered or having no way to mount at competition.

[Noel]

I don't have much experience with this event and I was just wondering what some of you are using to test your design.

You'll need a CD motor, which you can order off Amazon, and somewhere to mount it.

If you're still confused about the connections and stuff this image is pretty helpful.

images.jpg (6.65 KiB) Viewed 2341 times

You don't really need the resistor for testing how well your turbine works. All you need is a CD motor, a way to mount it (most people use clamps, PVC, or custom parts), a voltmeter, and wires to connect it. If the voltmeter gives you negative values then you either reversed the wiring or your blades are causing the turbine to spin in the opposite direction. Just remember that every score is relative to the device it was tested on, so don't be worried if the voltage produced by your turbine at competition is different than the voltage it was producing at home. Hope this helps.

[vikch]

Thanks for the help.

[vikch]

Also what is the average voltage most turbines produce?

[dragonfruit35]

Also what is the average voltage most turbines produce?

There's not really an average voltage due to the many variables in different setups. The type of fan, motor, resistor, and stand can affect the scores. Our preliminary design gets about 350 mV.

[GoofyFoofer]

Also what is the average voltage most turbines produce?

There's not really an average voltage due to the many variables in different setups. The type of fan, motor, resistor, and stand can affect the scores. Our preliminary design gets about 350 mV.

Millivolts?

[dragonfruit35]

Um, maybe not. That's pretty bad, based on your reaction...?