CEC 112-M Team 3 Wind Turbine Project

Project Description

This project follows teams 3 research and testing of the ideal conditions for a wind turbine.

Blade Material Investigation

In order to determine the ideal material for the wind turbine's blades, the team tested multiple different blades with the same setup. Each test kept the angle of the blade, distance from the fan, and number of blades consistent. The materials that were tested were:

• Styrofoam
• Balsa Wood
• Cardboard

Project Conclusions to Date

This list includes the conclusions that the team has come to so far

• The largest gear is the best for speed.
• Balsa Wood is the best tested material for the fan blades
• Four blades is the most ideal number of blades.
• 15 degrees is the optimal blade angle.
• The experiment that this conclusion came from had a few problems that may have led to an inaccurate conclusion. The team will update this point if given the time to redo the experiment.

Below will be portions of the experiments used to come to the team's conclusions.

This is a picture of how the angle of the blades is determined

The team experimented with the addition of a stability stick to stabilize the wind turbine and increase effeciency. This did not help so the idea was scrapped.