[gavztheouch]

Im not sure if this has been done already but I was thinking of putting together an open source Wind turbine design complete with cad files and some clear step by step .pdf plans

Anyone intrested in helping out?

My cnc is not up and running yet so this is a bit of a premature project, but I can help out with the chassis and tower deisgn. I have plenty of space and a decent workshop to prototype our designs.

I have setup a forum not sure if I can post the link here but you can PM for the address or we can start a thread here, though it would be usefull to have a subforum with multiple threads as im sure it will get messy in just one thread.

[pminmo]

Actually I think there already out there, including the G-code for blades. Not sure if this was the site or not. http://www.windstuff.org/ the blade G-code I believe was a thread here at the CNCzone.

[40fordcoupe]

Still it might be useful to have more information here. That is, it will reach a different audience. I personally would like to see a good DIY vertical shaft design.

[TomB]

I have played with very preliminary designs for vertical shaft turbines. They have some advantages when compared with horizonal shaft turbines in that they can utilize a larger cross section in comparision with required footprint size, they adapt to directionally shifting wind, and I think they could be deployed to hill and mountain tops with less aesthetic impact. But most vertical turbines must be started with an auxillary motor and that implies controls to determine when the wind is strong enough to justify the starting process and an available starting power source.

I can imagine a self starting the turbine that adjusts blade angle to extract energy in the downwind side while slicing through the wind on the other side. That adjustment could be made passivily, think in terms of a helecopter comuntator, but I think it would require some serrous computational fluid dynamics simulations plus some thoughtful mechanaical vibration analysis to tune the design.

Tom

[smartcolombyan]

I have been actually doing just that in my spare time and it's a bit tedious but doable. I deal with fluid mechanics as an engineer so the simulation calculations aren't that bad, but I've been having some trouble trying to come up with a way to precisely change the pitch of each fan blade passively through mechanical means based on the current wind loading condition. It'd be ideal if the angle of attack could change and lock in place and only change once the wind loading condition has progressed to another state to achieve higher efficiency from another blade angle configuration.

[40fordcoupe]

I have not actually tried to build a vertical turbine, but I have studied a number of them. I do agree that borrowing from helicopter technology makes a lot of sense. The generator itself could be used as the starting motor if need be. Maybe a microcomputer could be used to control the system?

[Energy Rebel]

Sounds good to me. I've been wanting to try a homemade vertical just to see how well it works. I'm sure it would be a crude prototype but what the heck?

I'll send you a pm.

[BJenkins]

Hi,

You might find my VAWT concepts interesting. Here are the video links.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXCguElUR3M"]YouTube- Wind Gin - Long Version - 9m24s[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpE5qQVSP5I"]YouTube- Wind Gin - Short Version - 2m36s[/ame]

Good Luck!
Bill

[40fordcoupe]

Very good! Would be a very interesting project. My ideas are pretty primitive by comparison. Usually involving something like cutting a bunch of barrels in half. LOL Thanks for sharing.

[abbabba]

The idea is quite clever. From the practical point of view however, I think the wear and tear will kill the idea. And there is the noise as well. I don't think the neighbours would approve. Good luck with your pursuits though. abbabba

[BJenkins]

I have added some explanations to the Wind Gin Long Version.

Thank You,
Bill Jenkins

[CAF Cues]

The idea is quite clever. From the practical point of view however, I think the wear and tear will kill the idea. And there is the noise as well. I don't think the neighbours would approve. Good luck with your pursuits though. abbabba

Also if the turbine is spinning at a high speed it seems it could fly apart from all the mechanical movement. I feel the best design is something along the lines of a barrel cut in half vertically. Of course the design would need to be refined. I want to do a design of such a vertical shaft WT down the road. I really like to use SketchUp Pro, anyone else have experience with this software?

[smartcolombyan]

I have some experience with SketchUp Pro. I'd say it's the easiest 3D modeling software available but I think the best use out of it may just be the ability to import several types of 3D models of fan blades that could be available from open sourced turbine projects or even literature research often provides some 3D CAD files for public use. But to do any type of simulation for optimization based on your own local wind conditions and analysis I'd try to use some other simulation software because some of the Sketchup plug ins to try to do any physics simulations are really buggy and crash all the time.

[40fordcoupe]

Bill,
have any of your design been built and tested yet?
Thanks,
Bob

[BJenkins]

Hi Bob,

I did a very rough experiment that I assembled on site about 9 years ago of the J1 design. The experiment proved out the basic mechanics but that's it. No Shop + No Money = No More Experiments. I have a 20 second video of it working but the simulations do a much better job.

I started learning CAD a couple of years ago and I decided to attempt the design concept in 3D. I knew it would have a wild look but I decided to do it anyway. I think the design is simple but I certainly understand that others will see it as too complex. I do think the design could be simplified a good bit.

Thanks for your interest!
Bill

[40fordcoupe]

Thanks Bill,
Keep use posted.
Bob

[BJenkins]

Hello, I have uploaded a new low speed wind turbine simulation. Thanks, Bill
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g_lCQyvrtA"]YouTube- RECIPROCATING Wind Turbine -- Low Speed Concept[/nomedia]

[40fordcoupe]

Thanks for the video, you have a very interesting design.
Not for a dumb amateur like me, but interesting anyway.
I hope you are successful with it.
Bob

[40fordcoupe]

Thanks will watch for it.
Bob

[BJenkins]

I have uploaded a new video. This is my second upload in the last week. Thanks for your interest.
[nomedia="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F61xwoDjSwE"]YouTube- Wind Trap - Wind Turbine[/nomedia]