Efficient Wind
Turbine Blade Design

Small-scale turbine blades designed to maximize the amount of power extracted from wind.

Small-scale 3D printed wind turbines with blades designed to maximize the efficiency with which the turbine converts wind energy to electrical energy

Used governing equations to understand relationship between twist, airfoil type, TSR, Reynolds number and Coefficient of power
Simulated the effectiveness of prototype designs in QBlade BEM
3D printed turbine blades then tested them in a wind tunnel. Used voltage, frequency, and resistence values to calculate TSR and coefficient of power
Iterative design process allowed optimizing of multiple prototypes in real-world testing

Achived a coefficient of power of ~.40 matching the average conversion for large-scale wind turbines
Reduced swept area by 26% from maximum limit while still meeting industry standards

The three iterations of the turbine design

Wind tunnel setup used to take measurements

Measuring the size of the 3D print of the 3rd design

1st turbine design

2nd turbine design