Darrieus wind turbine 3D printing files released, you can also build one yourself

Archer Vertical Axis WInd Turbine (VAWT) 0 Comment

This article provides 3D printing .STL files, documentation and pictures of the Darrieus wind turbine experimental device, etc. Those who are interested can download it and actually make it to play with! The Darrieus wind turbine is a lift-type vertical axis wind turbine with high rotation speed and high efficiency. It is a subject worth studying. The experimental equipment of this project is shown in the video below :

 

Project file download link => iCloud

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Precautions and safety instructions for this project :

This project is designed for experimental needs. In order to quickly verify ideas, 3D printing is used to produce parts. Therefore, it is not suitable for long-term use and strong wind conditions. The reasons are as follows :

      1. 3D printed parts have weak mechanical strength. Please avoid using them in strong wind environments.
      2. If PLA is used for 3D printing, special attention must be paid to the fact that it may become brittle and disintegrate after long-term use!
      3. In order to prevent the weight of the blade from causing excessive bending moments on the connection between the strut and the main shaft (as shown on the left below) and damaging the parts, a zip ties can be used to strengthen it and a cable should be set between the main shaft and the strut.
      4. The Darrieus wind turbine is a lift-type with a high rotational speed, and the tip speed ratio (TSR) can reach more than 4. Therefore, the strut and the main shaft must be firmly fixed. A pin can be used (as shown on the right below) to prevent the strut from being thrown out by centrifugal force.
      5. The strut and blades are fixed with M4 screws, so the strut tip must tap the internal teeth. Please refer to the pictures of the downloaded project file.

3D parts for Darrieus wind turbine

Other parts that are matched with the 3D printed parts of this project are described below. Please process or purchase them yourself :

    1. The outer diameter of the main shaft is 12 mm, and the outer diameter of the strut (crossbar) is 5 mm.
    2. The outer diameters of the two inner beams of the blade are 8 mm and 5 mm respectively.
    3. The length of blades, main shaft and strut can be designed by yourself.
    4. The bearing seat of the main shaft is designed according to bearing 6901.

Basic characteristics of Darrieus wind turbines

  1. It is a lift type vertical axis wind turbine with high speed and high efficiency.
    • The tip speed ratio (TSR) can reach more than 4, which means that the blade tip speed can exceed the wind speed by more than 4 times, which is much higher than that of the drag type blade, which is less than 1 time.
    • According to the literature, the efficiency can reach 40%, which is much higher than the drag type which is less than 20%.
  2. Torque is small at low speed, it usually cannot start by itself, and an auxiliary starting device is necessary.
    • Usually when TSR < 2, the torque is too small to start.
    • A common method is to install drag blades to assist starting, but this will reduce the efficiency of the lift blades.
    • Compared with drag blades, this site recommends using Magnus rotors to assist in starting. The starting torque is larger and the efficiency is higher. The videos comparing these 2 methods are as follows:

Ref.Wind power calculator of various wnd turbines 

Ref. Magnus effect and Vertical axis wind turbines

 

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