Project: Building a wind turbine

[DaJe]

So some of you may remember a bit ago when I said I had to build a wind turbine for my engineering class. Well, I started on it now. I actually already started some work on it, and didn't take pictures of everything because making a worklog for it wasn't my priority. But, I'll show youw hat I have anyway.


First I'll give a quick overview of the design I have. I have a foot long tube of cast acrlyic with a 3 inch inner diameter. I also have 3 inch acrlyic discs. Those discs will plug up the ends of the tubes. In the middle of the discs will go a bearing. Through that bearing will rest a foot long aluminium shaft. On the end of that shaft is the blade, which I secured with bondo. I just took a blade setup from a fan and used it. Now, I have some neodymium magnets which are arc shaped. 6 of those magnets will go together to form a hollow cylinder of magnets. I originally had other magnets which would take 4 to make a complete ring, but I'll explain that later. Alright, so using rubber gromits to fill in the space, I secure the cylinder of magnets around the shaft. Along the inside walls of the generator housing will be rows of copper coils. Some of these magnets have north on the outside, some have north on the inside, so they alternate. As the shaft spins, the magnets will rotate past the coils, while the alternating poles will cause a magneting flux, and pull the current through the coils, generating a usable electric current.



Hopefully that overview was good enough, now onto some pictures.





I'm going to use acrylic to create brakcets to secure the copper coils to. I have a sheet of acrylic on which I overlayed paper, and marked out the lines to cut six 1.5 inch wide strips.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2929.JPG




Here's what I'll be using for the generator housing. It's a one foot long, 3 inch inner diameter, quarter of an inch thick tube of clear cast acrylic.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2930.JPG




Now, the tube will be cut in half down the middle, to make it easy to work inside of. The two half will be screwed together (was originally thinking of a hinge and latch) and will be able to be disassembled. The acrylic discs at the ends will also be cut in half, and have holes in the middle of them for bearings. Here is one of the discs, already drilled and cut, with one of the bearings in it.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2931.JPG




The shaft is a 1 foot long rod of aluminum, half an inch thick. I took the blades off of like a desk fan, and used bondo and super glue to make sure they'd be secure.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2933.JPG




I'll have to hand wind all of the coils from spools of magnet wire.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2934.JPG




Here are the magnets. As you can see, they are arc shaped and pieced together to form one long cylinder. These are basically the most powerful ones I could buy. They're very fragile though. I've broken so many magnets over the past week.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2936.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2937.JPG




So tomorrow, I'll wake up early and start more work on this, getting as much of it done as I can. I'll be sure to take more pictures and keep you guys updated on this as I progress.

[jdbnsn]

Check you out, way to go man!

[Trace]

Very nice! I may have to make one to power my computer and make my parents happy they don't have to pay the bill.

It's always windy where I live...

[DaJe]

It would be ideal for me to have this done for Tuesday. I have all of my materials, I have all of my ideas, I already have some of it put together. So I'm going to stop working on it today and attempt to get all of it done tomorrow night. The reason is that I can't risk cutting this acrylic by hand. Not the big tube anyway. Tomorrow morning I'm going to go into my school and hope that there is someone working in the machine shop who will cut everything for me. I really need machine precision. If there's no one willing to do it for me, I'll have to just do it myself at home, and hope it comes out alright. Once I have the tube cut in half, and the acrylic sheet cut into strips to use as coil brackets, I'll have everything I need and will just need to assemble it all. So assuming I get everything cut, I should be able to finish it all tomorrow night. I'll work all night if I have to.



I did do some more today, but I'm just going to update on this for now. The problem with the magnets were that the gromets I was using created a gap between some of the magnets. I now fixed that and have new gromets as well. I increased the magnets from 3 sections to 4.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2943.JPG




On each end of this magnet tube, I have a rubber gromet. It slightly overlaps the end of the tube as well to help secure the magnets. These gromets will secure the magnets tightly to the shaft.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2942.JPG




I also decided to put one gromet in the middle of the magnet tube for extra stability, as you can see in the right half of the tube in this picture.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2940.JPG

[tinker]

looking really sweet!
It's cool to see something different every once in a while.

[DaJe]

So tonight I started winding some copper coils. I only had enough wire to make 4 coils. If I had more time, I would buy some online and have as much as I need. But I don't so I'll have to stop by Radioshack and buy some. All Radioshack has in a package of 3 spools, all of different gauges. So I can only use one spool from each package. Each package is also like 5 or 6 dollars. So I'll need to spend like $50 to get enough wire. It'll be alright though. And hopefully I'll also be reimbursed for some of it.





I've wound 4 coils so far, each one had 100 winds to it. I need 20 more.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2945.JPG




The coils are going to be slightly longer than the magnets, unless I rewind them to be smaller. But rather than that, I'm just going to add more rubber gromets and break the magnets down into 4 sections, spaced apart slightly.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_2944.JPG




Now ideally, the magnets and the coils would be the same length. But, only a little bit of the coils will be outside the length of the magnet. I figure the magnetic field will reach our far enough anyway. And the majority of the coils will be along the length of the magnets anyway. This also makes another part easier. With the magnets together like that, they'd have alternating poles lengthwise, making me have to change the direction of the coils for each section. Now with them spaced apart, and the poles lined up, they can all be wound the same way.


The only problem is that I have no idea how to properly wire up the coils. Hopefully I figure that out soon enough.

[Fuganater]

You need 24 coils?!?!?! Holy crap dude thats alot of work. Hopefully you get it done on time. And get reimbursed for the wire.

[DaJe]

Well, each magnet section needs its own coil circle, and I plan to make each circle out of 6 coils.

[mofo]

Each turn (one wrap of wire) equals more power that the fan generates. there is a limit where the back current would actually stop the rotor from turning but its unrealistically high I think.
So him using more coils equals more power. AHHHhahahaha ha! sry had to.

At some point can we get some sort of wiring schematic of what you plan to do?
Great idea.

[DaJe]

Yesterday I waited around in the machine shop for a bit for the technician to come around and cut the acrylic for me, but he never did. So today I had my class, and went into the shop with my professor, and the technician was there too. He helped me out and cut off some of my acrylic tube, but then had to go. So then me and my professor just cut up the rest. And as long as the professor was there, I was able to use the saw myself.

We were originally going to do some testing of the turbines today, but never got around to it. I said I needed my turbine finished by today, but that just wasn't feasible. So I just hoped someone else from my team would have the one he was working on finished so he could bring it in. See, someone on my engineering team was working on one, but I continued to work on this one, because I just wanted it to be as great as it could be. The professor spent most of the class helping the other two guys on my team get the other turbine working right while I worked on what I had.




I had the technician cut off 4 inches of the tube, because I ordered a piece that was longer than I needed. After that, we decided to use that scrap 4 inches to try out the cut. We made sort of a bracket from scrap metal as a way to keep the cut straight.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3133.JPG




My professor decided to be the one to make the first cut.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3137.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3139.JPG




And then on to the big piece, the part that really mattered. I was the one to cut this one. No mistakes could be made, and if they were then the fault would be on me. Note: I was not wearing safety glasses like I should have been. I completely forgot about them until I was done cutting it. I did put some on afterward when I cut some more stuff though. You should always wear protective safety equipment.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3143.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3147.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3148.JPG




It came out pretty good. A nice straight even cut all along it.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3151.JPG




And as you can see, the circles I cut earlier match up with the tube, meaning it can be pull apart and opened up.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3154.JPG




And then the bearings will rest in the holes in the circles.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3158.JPG




So I should have this thing done by next week. What I'm going to do tonight is order some magnet wire online. Now that I actually have time to do so, I can get plenty of what I need for a good price. ****ing Radioshack... Anyways, I'll keep you guys updated on this over the next week.

[Fuganater]

NO SAFETY GOGGLES!!! You should always wear them when using a band saw. But it looks to be coming along well.

[Drum Thumper]

+rep, /subscribe. You've piqued my interest, especially since I live right on the Rocky Mountain Front.

[Computer-Geek]

I'm watching this so far it looks very good :) + rep

[DaJe]

Alright guys, so right now I'm trying to think of how I'm going to make the shaft grip tightly to the inside of the bearings, so that it can spin with them. I also ordered 1,500 feet of magnet wire by the way. But anyways, onto the shaft. I do have these things that I could glue to the bearings, which would then allow me to basically screw them to the shaft. I don't want the shaft to have too much weight on it though, especially where the bearings are. Any ideas?

[DaJe]

Made a change of sanding down most of the bondo on the tip and putting a cap on the end.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3287.JPG




For now, I temporarily have these clamps holding everything together. I'm hoping to drill some holes and have screws for everything. I also added two things to help keep the shaft from sliding out of the bearings. I also sprayed some WD-40 into the bearings, and they work so much better now.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3289.JPG




I ordered 1,500 feet of 26 gauge magnet wire, and it arrived today


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3279.JPG




I have this acrylic strips and these little scrylic blocks that I cut, which are going to be used as brackets to hold the coils in place. I have a little jig setup with a block on it the same size of the ones that will be used to hold the coils. I also have it wrapped in electric tape to keep it smooth and make it easy to sldie off, as well as to give a tiny bit of space to help put the coils on the brackets. So I start off by just putting one end of the wire on the block.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3280.JPG




And then after that, I have to hand wind the wire into a coil. I decided to give each coil 100 winds. So with 24 coils, that means I have to sit there and wrap a wire around an acrylic block 2,400 times.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3281.JPG




In the end, I pull it off the block and end up with this. A loose bundle of wire, forming a new coil.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3282.JPG




So I tightly bind it with 4 pieces of electric tape.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3284.JPG




And then repeat the process.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3277.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3278.JPG

[The boy 4rm oz]

This looks fantastic. Very nice work. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[DaJe]

I've wound all but 4 coils now. So now I'm onto how I'm going to actually secure the coils into the turbine. I have some roughly cut strips of acrylic, and some blocks I also cut out if acrylic.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3294.JPG




I measured and marked the strips, and then used my acrylic cement to attach the blocks to the strips. Afterwords I sanded it all down to make it more flat and smooth. Though it's alright if these parts are a little rough, so I'm not taking the effort to make them perfectly straight.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3293.JPG




And then the coils attach to it pretty well. I'll have 6 of these strips, basically forming a hexagon inside the generator housing.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3290.JPG

[The boy 4rm oz]

Awesome. I can't wait to see this thing powered up.

[DaJe]

It's not quite done yet. I still need to sand down the ends of each coil to strip the enamel from them so I can actually wire them together. It's tedious work, so I haven't finished it yet. I might just try to get it all done tomorrow. But for now, none of it is wired up. I decided I'd piece it together anyway to see how it goes. See if everything fits right and get an idea of how it looks.




So I drilled 6 holes in each half of the generator housing. Each bracket gets two screws.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3298.JPG




And to hold it all securly, the screws go all the way into the block that the coils are on.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3300.JPG




So then I end up with this. All the coils lined up and secured into the generator.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3305.JPG




The magnets and the shaft seem to fit over it all just. Want I idealy want is for the magnets to be as close to the coils as possible, without touching them. I calculated how much space I would need when ordering the acrylic tube used for the generator housing. I took into the account the size of the magnets, the coils, the brackets that hold them in place, and the space between the magnets and the coils.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3301.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3303.JPG




It fits together pretty well. Looks good too. A big reason why I wanetd to use acrylic for this project was so that it could be seen into while everything is running.


http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3306.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3307.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3309.JPG

http://codeinsurrection.com/turbine/DSC_3310.JPG




I should have this all finished by tomorrow. I sure hope I have this all finished by tomorrow. Next what I need to do is just strip the enamel from the ends of all of the coils, and then just wire them all up. After that it should basically be functional, assuming it was all done right. I then need to construct a sturdy, heavy base for this thing. To test it out, it's going to be strapped to the roof of a car. I could want this thing blowing over. I need a strong support pole that is going to keep it straight as well. Mainly I just hope I get this finished and working by tomorrow. Especially if I'm going to be playing Grand Theft Auto IV all night.

[The boy 4rm oz]

Man this looks AWESOME. A fantastic piece of engineering you hae there. Can't wait to see the finished thing. +rep

[Drum Thumper]

For your base, have you considered using a microphone stand? That's the first thing that came to mind when you said that you want something sturdy.

+rep man, this is killer.

[DaJe]

Microphone stand will not do. This thing needs to be strapped to the roof of a car going at least 30mph. I'll build a base out of wood, maybe two pieces stacked together. 18 inches by 18 inches. And then for a pole, I don't know. A microphone stand could possibly work, but I think I'm going to look into other options first.

[mofo]

Find a GIANT magnet!! Just stick it to the roof :banana:

[DaJe]

Well mainly what I'm worried about is the turbine being top heavy and having the generator blow over, while the base remains.

[Eclecticos]

It looks like your fan motor it built correctly. What is the input voltage?

[jbaldwinroberts]

its a generator not a motor

[halcyonforever]

Motor... Generator...

All depends which way the current flows...

[jbaldwinroberts]

i know, i was just pointing out that he was building it to be a wind generator.

[DaJe]

Which means it has no input voltage, which was the basis of his entire post. But you are right, a motor and a generator work the same, just in reverse. In a motor, you induce an electrical current into the coils to cause the magnet to spin. And in the turbine, I'm putting kinetic energy into the shaft to spin the magnets and pull the current through the coils.

[985323]

is this finished, if so post some pics please

[Liquid_Scope_99]

Great work so far man