City College of New York

Spring 2012 Senior Design Project: ME 473

Wind Turbine Model for WindTunnel Testing

Instructor: Professor Watkins

Advisor: Professor Andreopoulos
Design Team:
Christopher Ruano (Leader)
Kam Coin
Luis Roldan
1

Table of Contents
Nomenclature

Introduction

Problem Statement

Product Design Specifications

Product Architecture

Design Concept

Turbine Geometry

Airfoil Selection

BEM Theory

10

Linearization

12

Alignment

13

Final Design

15

Analysis

16

Parametric Design

19

Motor Selection

19

Nacelle Design

20

Tower Design

21

Base/Support

22

Final Assembly

23

Design Embodiment

24

Wind Turbine

24

Manufacturing and Fabrication

26

Assembly

29

Performance Evaluation

31

Mass Properties

31

Experiment 1 Turbine Configuration

32

Experiment 2

36

Experiment 3

38

Experiment 4

41

Conclusion and
Recommendations
Acknowledgements

43
46

Nomenclature
Angle of Attack
Pitch Angle
Twist Angle
Density of air
Tip speed ratio
Turbine time constant
Relative angle
Angular Velocity
Number of Blades
Chord length
Power Coefficient
Lift Coefficient
Drag Coefficient
Turbine diameter
Current
Turbine radius
Effective blade radius
Mechanical Power
Electrical Power
Voltage
Center of gravity
Center of pressure

Introduction
Wind turbines are quickly becoming the worlds fastest growing renewable
energy technology. Over the years, wind turbines have become reliable, efficient and
reduce cost of energy. Wind turbines have the ability to power homeowners, farms and
even business owners. Wind turbines are often used in arrays known was wind farms.
These wind farms can be seen throughout the world and are gaining popularity here in
the United States. Wind turbine farms placed on the land are called Inland Wind Farms
and turbine farms placed in the sea are called Offshore Wind Farms. This senior design
project will model both an Inland and Offshore wind farm. Before the wind farm can be
created, a single wind turbine must be designed.
The wind turbine is assembled in four parts as shown in figure 1. The first part is
the three blade wind turbine design, which converts the kinetic energy of the wind into
Mechanical energy. The wind turbine is then connected to a Nacelle, the housing, which
conceals all mechanical components like the motor, resistor and wires. The third part
supports the wind turbine and nacelle to a certain height above the surface. And lastly is
the support base. This will support the entire wind turbine assembly and connects it to
the foundation.

Figure 1 Wind Turbine Assembly

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Problem Statement and Objective

The purpose of this project is to design a scale down version of a wind turbine.
Along with the wind turbine, a wind farm will be design in the process. The goal of
designing the wind turbine is to be able to plot power as a function of wind velocity. Our
objective is to collect data on the behavior of the wind turbine. Some of these data
involve finding the rotation speed at a given wind velocity. The power that the wind
turbine generates will be calculated.

Product Design Specification

The wind turbine design has to be a scale model three-blade horizontal axis wind
turbine. The model needs to fit a 4x4x24 feet working section of the department wind
tunnel. The wind turbine needs to be rugged to withstand high wind speeds as well as
versatile to allow interchangeability.

Project Architecture
The wind turbine with be tested from inside the department wind tunnel. As
shown below (Figure 2). From the schematic diagram the wind turbine will be stationed
in inside the wind tunnel. The wind tunnel will provide different wind speed variation.
The wind will cause the turbine to rotate by aerodynamic forces. A high speed camera
will be used to calculate rotation speed, which in this case will act as a tachometer.
Since the wind turbine is connected to a motor which outputs voltage, the power
generated will be calculated from the voltage. This data will be collected through a data
acquisition system. For this project a data acquisition system was not available, so
simple multimeters were used to record the data.

Figure 2: schematic diagram of wind turbine.

Design Concept
Turbine Geometry
Wind turbines are characterized by their diameters. The diameter of a wind
turbine s defined by the diameter of the imaginary circle made around the turbine.
Figure illustrates how the diameter of the wind turbine is measured. The radius of the
turbine is then defined as the distance from the hub to one of the tips of the wind turbine
blades. The blade itself can be broken into several subsections such as the shaft and
effective blade. The effective blade is the part that is responsible for creating the
aerodynamic forces that produce the torque. This section is formed several airfoils, and
resembles that of a delta wing. Most of the design of the wind turbine will focus on the
design of the effective blade.

Figure 3: Wind Turbine Geometry

The blade can be divided into small elements, dr, that consists of airfoils. Each
blade section has a relative angle, or the angle facing the relative velocity while rotating.
The difference between the relative angle at the tip and the relative angle at the root is
known as the twist angle, or the amount of twist on the blade. Figure 4 shows the layout
of a blade section as seen from the right. This figure illustrates how a portion of the
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blade would look if the blade was cut from the top. The blade section consists of an
airfoil that is directed at a certain angle when rotating. The blade section has a length
known as the chord length, c, that varies thorough out the blade. Modern wind turbines
have smaller chord length at the tip and a larger chord length at the root. The relative
angle is formed from the velocity triangle that is created by the incoming wind velocity
and the rotation velocity. The pitch angle is then defined as the relative angle minus the
angle of attack. The pitch angle is measured from the axis of rotation to the center of the
airfoil. The design process of the turbine blade should include the selection of the airfoil,
the chord length at different blade sections, and the pitch and twist angles at different
blade sections.

Figure 4: Blade Element

Airfoil Selection
The power that is generated by the wind turbine depends on the aerodynamic
forces that act on the blades of the wind turbine. The majority of the design of a wind
turbine is on the individual blades. The first design choice we made in the design of the
wind turbine was to select the different airfoils that would compose a turbine blade.
Because there are so many different airfoils that can be chosen, each with their own
different characteristics, we decided to only focus on NACA four digit series airfoils. This
decision was made because we were familiar with the classification of the airfoils, and
9

we could compare different airfoils within the series. From analyzing the design of
current wind turbines, and researching their construction, we noticed that the airfoils are
fairly thin and significantly curved. We then looked at which NACA profiles matched this
particular shape. Determining this compatibility was fairly easy because the NACA
profiles have a very particular classification. The four digit series consist of four digit
numbers that describe the curve, or camber, of the airfoil, the placement of maximum
thickness from the leading edge, and the maximum thickness as a percentage of chord
length. For example, a NACA 2412 has a camber value of 2, has a maximum thickness
located 4/C, and a thickness of 12/C.
The airfoil that was selected had to have a high camber, and overall thin shape,
but also had to have more of a thickness towards the root of the blade. The initial design
was composed of a NACA 2412 airfoil at the root and NACA 6410 airfoil from mid to tip,
but this blade was too thin at some points, and would not lend itself to 3D printing. It
was also more difficult to align the airfoil sections since they had different center of
pressures. One modification that had to be made was to choose an airfoil with a thicker
section. For the final design the NACA 6412 was chosen, but it was also modified
slightly so that it was slightly thicker than the NACA 6412. The figure below shows a
comparison between the modified and unmodified NACA 6412 airfoils.

NACA 6412
NACA 6412 Mod

0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
-0.1
-0.2
-0.3
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Figure 5: NACA Profile

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Blade Element and Momentum Theory

After the airfoils that would constitute the blades of the wind turbine were
selected, determining the chord lengths and angles of the airfoils then had to be
determined. These parameters depended upon how fast the wind turbine was going to
rotate and how much power was going to be generated with respect to wind velocity.
From the previous section these parameters were derived from the tip speed ratio and
the power coefficient of the turbine, respectively. There are several methods commonly
outlined by sources on wind turbines. Perhaps the most common is known as Blade
Element and Momentum theory, or BEM. BEM theory divides the blade into several
small sections and determines the chord length and relative angle at these sections.
This is done by applying the momentum equation and solving for the torque generated
at each section of the blade. These equations are outlined below.

The first step in defining the blade shape is to break up the blade into several
small sections. From the figure below, we see that the blade section, r, starts at the root,
so r=0, and the at the blade tip r=R. The tip speed ratio is then defined for each
individual section of the blade. Since we know the tip speed ratio, and the coefficient of
lift for the individual sections of the blade, we can then solve for the relative angle at
each individual section. The tip speed ratio for each of the blade sections is then
defined. The chord length that is necessary to produce the lift force is calculated by the
second equation.

11

The pitch and twist angles are then calculated by subtracting the angle of attack
from the relative angle. We can then plot how the chord length and pitch angle change
with blade section r. In order to make this more applicable to any length of the blade,
the parameters are normalized by the total length of the blade, R. The plots for these
parameters are provided below. The resulting chord lengths and pitch angles are too
exaggerated for implementation on modern wind turbine designs. This is because BEM
theory should only be used as a starting point for design, further refinement of the blade
shape is necessary for the final design. It is often recommended that a linearization of
the chord length and pitch angle be made so that the blade becomes sleeker and easier
to manufacture. If we were to construct the blade using specifications, the blade would
also look awkward and un-aesthetically pleasing. The only way of verifying whether or
not the final design of the wind turbine matches up with the design parameters is to
physically test them using wind tunnel tests, or to run computational fluid dynamic
studies using finite element software.
60
0.5

50

0.4

40
Pitch Angle

c/R

0.3
0.2
0.1

30
20

10

-0.1

-0.2

-10
0.2

0.4

0.6
r/R

0.8

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

r/R

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Linearization
Linearization of the blade involves describing the chord length and pitch angle for
the sections throughout the blade with linear equations. These equations are formulated
by picking two points relatively close to those found by BEM theory and drawing a
straight line between them. This line can then be described by a linear equation using
the points before. The reason for linearizing the chord and pitch distribution is because
it makes the turbine more aesthetic. Most large scale wind turbines do not have the
shape found from BEM theory. Another reason is that the linearized blade is easier to
model and manufacture. The linearized chord distribution throughout the chord is shown
in figure 6. The equation used for the chord distribution is shown under the figure. The
points chosen are labeled a and b. The point a is at the start of the effective blade, and
b is at the tip. It is evident that the chord length decreases throughout the blade so a is
greater than b. Similarly, angle e is at the effective blade and f is at the tip. We can see
the pitch angle decreases, so the blade twists up along the blade.
Figure 6: Blade Linearization

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A MATLAB code was written to create a table of the blade sections, the chord
lengths, pitch angles, center of pressure, and centers of gravity. This MATLAB code is
entitled Turbine Design, and is available in the group project website or dropbox. The
inputs for the code are the linearizations a, b, e, f, and the length of the blade. The table
is created by using the chord and pitch angle distribution equations above. The table
also features the center of pressures and centers of gravity for each of the blade
sections. The methods used to determine this are described in the next section, and are
primarily used for alignment of the blade sections. The output for the code is a text file
of the table created. This text file can then be read by another code used to create and
align the sections.

Alignment
Determining this location along the airfoil is well documented since it is used as
the location for applying the aerodynamic forces. The center of pressure is defined as
one quarter of the chord length minus the pitching moment at one fourth of the leading
edge divided by the lift force. Since we dont know the pitching moment or the lift force,
we can determine the coefficient of moment and coefficient of lift for the airfoil used at
the angle of attack selected. The equation for the location of the center of pressure then
becomes the second equation below.

The center of gravity for each of the individual airfoil was also calculated by using
the built in Evaluate feature in SolidWorks. This feature displaces the x, y, and z points
for the center of gravity. We then tabulated the results for the center of pressure and
center of gravity for each of the airfoils shapes. The airfoils were then aligned in their xposition by their center of pressure, and y-position by their center of gravity. The airfoils
are then rotated about the location of alignment. The amount that they are rotated is
defined by the pitch angle calculated in the previous section.
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A separate MATLAB code was written to create the airfoil shapes and align them
according to the method described above. This MATLAB code is called airfoils because
it creates the exact airfoils that will be used for the solid model of the turbine. The code
inputs the text file from the code used to design the blade. It begins by creating the
airfoil shapes with the exact chord lengths determined by the design process. The
airfoils are then aligned in the x-axis by their centers of pressure. This becomes the
origin of the blade. Each blade profile is then tilted by the pitch angle and then all the
profiles are shifted to the center of gravity of the first airfoil. This is where the effective
blade will be connected to the rest of the turbine blade and hub. A separate text file is
created for each airfoil. The text file has the x, y, and z coordinates of the airfoil. These
text files can then be directly imported into SolidWorks, where the actual blade is
created.

3
2
1
0
-1
-2
-3
-4
-5
-5

-4

-3

-2

-1

Figure 7: MATLAB Profiles

Final Design
The solid model of the wind turbine begins by creating the blade sections in
SolidWorks. This step was made simpler with the text files created by the MATLAB
code used before. The text files are imported by the use of the insert curve through xyz
option. The shaft of the blade is made after all the sections are imported. The hub is
15

created next, and is located at the origin. The final design of the turbine is given in figure
9. The final design accurately portraits a large scale three blade horizontal axis wind
turbine. Unlike BEM theory, the way to evaluate the performance of the turbine is not
determined by assumptions, but by running accurate computational fluid dynamic
simulations or by testing an actual model in the wind tunnel. In this way the behavior of
the flow around a wind turbine can be fully seen. This will also determine what the
relationship between airfoil selection, chord and angle distribution play on the power
coefficient and tip speed ratio of the wind turbine.

Figure 8 SolidWorks Profiles

Figure 9: Finished Design

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Analysis
Once the turbine has been designed using SolidWorks, the analysis of the
turbine can begin. CFD simulations are performed on the finished wind turbine design to
determine the performance of the turbine. The setup for the simulations is a single
turbine placed inside a control volume or enclosure, and inputting a wind velocity in the
direction of the turbine. After the geometry is created, a mesh is formed around the
entire geometry. The boundary conditions for the simulations are the inlet velocities that
were similar to those used in the wind tunnel. The simulations are done using a nonrotating turbine. A user defined function, or UDF, was developed by graduate students
that rotated the turbine according to torque developed on the turbine and the moment of
inertia. The code assumed a steady state angular velocity according to the last time
step of the simulation, and so the rotational speed was somewhat arbitrary. The
equation that describes the angular velocity of the turbine with respect to time is more
complicated, and so this is only determined by the use of actual experiments conducted
on a physical model.

Figure 10: Fluent Mesh

The simulations only calculate the velocities and pressures throughout the
turbine when it is not rotating. The forces and moments can then be calculated by
17

Fluent according the pressures developed on the turbine. These types of reports
calculate the pressure per each face of the mesh, and so can used accurately to
determine the torque of the turbine. This is accomplished by telling Fluent in what origin
and what axis to calculate the moment developed, and since the turbine rotates about a
certain axis, the torque is this moment calculated. An example report is shown in the
figure below. The highlighted section is the torque that was calculated. The torques are
then tabulated for each of the velocities used and plotted. A plot of the torques with
each of the velocities is shown in the figure below.

Figure 11: Fluent Results

Figure 12: Torque Report

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0.01
0.009
0.008

Torque (Nm)

0.007
0.006
0.005
0.004
0.003
0.002
0.001
0

6
7
8
Wind Velocity (m/s)

10

11

Figure 13: Fluent Calculations of Torque

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Parametric Design
Motor Selection
For this project, the power generated by the turbine will be measured by
electrical means. This requires that the turbine be attached to some type of generator.
Currently, there are no generators that are made to this scale, but small DC motors can
be used effectively as generators. The selection of the motor had to be critical because
it must be around the same scale as the turbine, be efficient at the speeds of the
turbine, and have a small starting torque. Of those requirements, the most important
had to be the low starting torque. The starting torque is the torque necessary for the
motor to start rotating. If this is too high, the turbine will not start to rotate at low wind
speeds and so have a large cut in wind speed. The overall angular velocity will also be
affected because some of the torque produced will be consumed by the motor. This
means that the motor shaft had to spin easily when rotated.

Figure 14: Pololu Brushed DC Motor

The selection of the motor analyzed several different types of motors from
different manufactures, but ultimately one motor was chosen that most closely fit all the
requirements. This motor is brushed DC motor from a company called Polou. The seller
also provided the efficiency of the motor along with some operating parameters. The
20

motor is small, and has a low starting torque, and is fairly inexpensive when compared
to other motor. A picture of the motor along with the performance chart is given in figure
.

Nacelle Design
On large scale wind turbines, the nacelle is the part of the wind turbine assembly
which holds the generator along with other mechanical parts, and connects them to the
tower of the turbine. On this model, the nacelle only holds the generator and is
connected to the tower. Since the motor already occupied some amount of space, the
size and complexity of the nacelle had to be limited for it to be in the same scale as the
turbine. The nacelle uses a two part design where a top piece connects to a bottom
piece. During the design process, it was determined that the two halves should be held
in place with some kind of hardware. The two halves should also be easy to
manufacture since nine turbines were to be made.

Figure 15: Nacelle Design

The two pieces were to be connected with plastic threaded standoffs glued to the
underside of one piece, and machine screws that were screwed on by the side of the
top piece. The plastic standoffs serve several roles in this assembly, one being the
connection methods of the nacelle. Another function is that the plastic standoffs hold the
generator in place and keep it electrically insulated from the sides of the nacelle. The
nacelle connects to the tower by an adaptor glued to the underside of the nacelle. This
21

adapter will make a tight fit with the tower so that movement of the two components is
difficult, but still possible if adjustment is necessary.

Tower Design
The tower holds the turbine at a certain height so that the turbine blades are
capable of capturing the most wind. The height of the tower is dependent on the velocity
profile of the environment. If for example the turbine is placed in an area that is heavily
condensed with trees and other obstacles, the velocity will be low towards the ground,
so the tower should be built higher above the ground. If the turbine is placed in an area
that is relatively isolated, like the plains or ocean, the tower does not have to be as tall.
The expense of the tower increases the taller it is, but the power extracted also
dramatically increases, so there is often an optimization of this length. Since the model
turbines in this project are supposed to model both land and offshore wind turbines, the
height is left to interpretation. On average, the tower height to turbine ratio is about one
to one for most turbines, most of the times it is a little over one. For this project the
tower height to turbine diameter is 1.25, which would make the height 25 centimeters. In
the solid model, the tower is design as a hollow tube. In this way, the wires can be
routed from the motor to the base.

Figure 16: Tower

22

Base/Support
The base is the part of the wind turbine assembly that supports the tower and
prevents it from tipping over during high wind speeds. There was some concern that the
turbine assembly would behave like a cantilever beam when subjected to high winds,
but this could be avoided if the tower was sturdy and if the base supported the
assembly sufficiently. At first, the base was designed as something that resembled a
plumbing flange, but this designed left the wires from the motor hanging out and
occupied too much space. The redesigned space is a lot more space friendly and
incorporates a method for connection to a data acquisition system. It is still sturdy
enough to support the wind turbine assembly under high wind speeds and has a
method of attachment to some sort of platform via small holes around the perimeter.

Figure 17: Base Design

Most data acquisitions use BNC connections to transmit the analog signal from
sensors to the analog to digital converter inside. In this situation, the generator acts like
a sensor that transmits the amount of voltage being produced. It could be said that
these BNC connections are an industry standard method of connection. There also
plenty of BNC cables located in the departmental wind tunnel room. A male adaptor is
connected to the base so that a BNC cable with a female end can be attached. These
adaptors are available from most electronic parts retailers. A picture of BNC adaptor
that was used is shown below.
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Figure 18: BNC Plug

Final Assembly
The final design of the wind turbine is the wind turbine assembly. The entire wind
turbine assembly consists of all the components mentioned above. The wind turbine is
placed onto the motor via a small hole in the center of the turbine. The turbine is held in
place by a tight fit made between the two components. The motor is placed into the
nacelle, and is held in place by the plastic standoffs. The nacelle is assembled with
machine screws. The nacelle and wind turbine are attached by an adaptor that is glued
onto the bottom piece of the nacelle. The tower connects to the base again by tight fit,
and the wires that connected to the motor are routed from the tower to the base. The
terminals are connected to a BNC connector, which is capable of attaching to most data
acquisition systems. The entire assembly can be bolted or screwed down to some sort
of platform by the four holes around the base.

Figure 19: Final Wind Turbine Assembly

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Design Embodiment
Wind Turbine
There was a great amount of consideration taken into the design of the turbine,
especially to the turbine blades. That is why it is important the turbine be manufactured
as closely as possible to the solid model. Using inadequate methods of manufacturing
would jeopardize the entire project since any data collected from the physical model
would not reflect theoretical values. The method that was chosen to be most suitable for
the creation of the wind turbine was 3D printing. The first step to having a 3D printed
model was to find a source for printing. The 3D printer in the school was deemed
unsuitable as the resolution was fairly low, and the quality of the finished product was
rough. A company called Shapeways, which is located in Long Island City, printed
models based on the stl file submitted. The solid model of the wind turbine was
converted into an stl file, but before the file was uploaded it had to be refined so that the
quality would be high.

Figure 20: Shapeways Model

Uploading a file that was acceptable by Shapeways and that was able to print
was somewhat of a challenge. This is because Shapeways has certain conditions for
25

the model that must be met before the model could be printed. These included
conditions on the geometry of the model and the stl file itself. The thinnest section that
could be printed was a thickness of 0.7 mm when the section is a long protrusion in the
part. This is what happened with the initial design of the blade. This is because the part
would be structurally unstable when 3D printing. The blade had to be redesigned the
following semester that used a thicker airfoil, had a higher chord length distribution, and
was slightly longer. In the end, the current model was approved by Professor
Andreopoulos and was accepted by Shapeways. Once the model was finished, the stl
file had to be refined so that the machine that does the 3D printing would read the file
better. This was done with a software which is called Netfabb. This software repairs any
imperfections with the model. This included holes and edges.

Figure 21: Netfabb repair software

After the model was uploaded, one turbine was purchased to see the quality of
the finished product. Figure shows how the first turbine purchased looked like after it
was delivered. The end result was a turbine that was smooth and well defined, but most
importantly accurate to the model. The finished model was approved by Professor
Andreopolous, and more turbines would be purchased after the completion of an entire
26

turbine assembly. One modification that had to be made the turbines purchased in the
future was that the hole for the connection to the motor had to be designed in.

Figure 22: 3D Printed Wind Turbine

Manufacturing and Fabrication

The wind turbine came ready to use from the manufacturer, but some of the parts
of the assembly had to be manufactured. The manufacturing process began with cutting
the blanks that would become the Nacelle halves. All eighteen pieces, nine top and nine
bottom, were cut from a single piece of 26 gauge aluminum stock. The stock measured
twelve inches by twenty four inches, and came semi polished from McMaster. The tool
path was made in the HSM plug-in for SolidWorks and was cut using the CNC mill
located in the manufacturing lab. The figure below demonstrates how the pieces were
cut out from the stock. After the blanks were cut out, they were bent using the bending
brake in the mechanical lab located in the cellar.

27

Figure 23: Nacelle Manufacturing

The towers were constructed from half inch diameter copper pipe. Copper pipe
was used because it was strong, light weight, and readily available. The behind using
copper pipe was that it was pre fabricated and needed very little work. The pipes were
purchased inexpensively from a hardware store and cut to size using a pipe cutter. One
drawback was that it had to be painted to improve the aesthetics of the overall design.
The pipes were painted using white enamel paint to match the rest the wind turbine and
make it look like a large scale wind turbine. The top and bottom parts of the pipe were
left unpainted as to not affect the tight fit that is made with the other parts.

28

Figure 24: Tower Manufacturing

All of the nine bases were fabricated from two inch thick aluminum stocks that
measured eight by eight inches. The tool path was again made in HSM, but required
more complex operations since it would be 3D contouring. A picture of what the stock
looked like after it was milled is shown in figure . After the bases were milled out, they
were sanded to remove the tool marks and polished to give them a finished look. The
holes around the perimeter and the hole for the BNC connector were drilled using an
ordinary hand drill. This completed the fabrication process, and the task of putting
together all the parts came next.

29

Figure 25: Base Manufacturing

Assembly
Once all the components of the wind turbine were manufactured and ready, the
assembly of the components could be begin. Since multiple turbines had to be put
together, all the turbines were assembled using an assembly line method. That meant
that one stage of the assembly was done at the same time for all the turbines, and all
the turbines were finished at the same time. This process began by gluing all the parts
that made up the nacelle. These included the plastic standoffs and the adaptor. The
adhesive of choice for this step was JB bond epoxy resin. The BNC connector was also
glued onto the base because threads were not able to be made. The connections for
the connector were soldered, and the tower was placed inside the base.

Figure 26: Assembly Method

30

The tower was connected to the nacelle by means of tight fit on to the adaptor.
Before the motor was placed inside the nacelle, the wires and a resistor were soldered
onto it. The resistor made it easy to measure the voltage and the current. Once The
motor was fitted onto the nacelle, and all the wires were properly placed, the two nacelle
pieces were joined together. The circuit was then checked to see if there were any
shorts by checking the voltage when the motor was spun. The wind turbines were then
placed onto the motor shafts. A very tight fit was necessary so that the turbines would
not slip during high wind speeds. The turbines were then ready to be used inside the
wind tunnel.

Figure 27: Wind Turbine Farm

31

Performance Evaluation
Mass Properties
The theoretical calculations of the wind turbine depended on several mass
properties of the wind turbine. This included the total mass and the mass moment of
inertia. SolidWorks has an accurate calculator for the mass properties, but this required
that the material type be chosen. The material for the wind turbine was nylon, but the
density of nylon could not be used because the wind turbine was 3D printed, and so not
a homogenous material. To determine the density of the turbine, we got the mass from
a scale and divided by the volume determined by SolidWorks. The density came out to
be 920 kg/m^3. This was close to the density of nylon, which is about 1200 kg/m^3, but
the turbine is not completely solid. Once the density was determined, the density was
inputted into the solid model, and the mass properties were evaluated.

Figure 28: Mass Determination

32

Experiment 1
The purpose of this project was to examine the behavior of wind turbines and
measure the power of the turbines for given wind speeds. Before several wind turbines
could be placed inside the wind tunnel, each turbine that was to be used had to be
placed inside the wind tunnel alone. This way, the angular velocity of the turbine can be
measured at each wind speed. This would also serve in calibrating each turbine. Each
turbine had to be calibrated because the motor of each could differ slightly. The
experiment began by placing the wind turbines inside the wind tunnel and the wind
speed is set according the frequency control. Once the wind enters the wind tunnel, the
turbines begin to spin, and a voltage and current is measured by the multimeter. The
electrical power generated is then calculated by the equation shown below. The angular
velocity is captured by the high speed camera. A small mark is made on one of the
blades of the turbine, and the number of frames per rotation is counted. The power and
the angular velocity are plotted against the wind speed.

Figure 29: Wind Turbine Calibration

33

The plot of angular velocity versus wind speed for the first, second, and third
turbines are shown in figures 30, 31, and 32, respectively. The angular velocity for the
turbines are calibrated by the voltage produced. The mechanical power for the turbines
is then calculated by multiplying the torque times the angular velocity. The power
coefficient and tip speed ratio can then be derived for each of the turbines. The
electrical power for the wind turbine is calculated by the product of the voltage and the
frequency measured. The electrical power for each of the turbines is then calibrated by
each of the voltages. We can see that all the turbines rotate at the same speeds, but
have some differences in the electrical power. This is because of the differences of the
motor.

Motor Calibration for Turbine 1

0.01

Motor Calibration for Turbine 1

200

0.009

180

0.008

Electrical Power (Watts)

Angular Velocity (rad/s)

160
140
120
100
80
60

0.006
0.005
0.004
0.003
0.002

40

0.001

20
0

0.007

0
0

0.1

0.2

0.3
0.4
Voltage (V)

0.5

0.6

0.7

0.1

0.2

0.3
0.4
Voltage (V)

0.5

0.6

0.7

Figure 30: Calibration for Turbine 1

34

Motor Calibration for Turbine 2

Motor Calibration for Turbine 2

0.01

200

0.009

180

0.008

Electrical Power (Watts)

Angular Velocity (rad/s)

160
140
120
100
80
60

0.007
0.006
0.005
0.004
0.003

40

0.002

20

0.001

0
0

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4
0.5
Voltage (V)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4
0.5
Voltage (V)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Figure 31: Calibration for Turbine 2

Motor Calibration for Turbine 3

0.01

180

0.009

160

0.008

140

0.007

Electrical Power (Watts)

Angular Velocity (rad/s)

Motor Calibration for Turbine 3

200

120
100
80
60

0.006
0.005
0.004
0.003

40

0.002

20

0.001

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4
0.5
Voltage (V)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4
0.5
Voltage (V)

0.6

0.7

0.8

0.9

Figure 32: Calibration for Turbine 3

35

Figure 33: Turbine 1 Power Curve

Figure 34: Turbine 2 Power Curve

36

Figure 35: Turbine 3 Power Curve

Experiment 2
The second experiment consisted of 2 turbines positioned side by side. The two
turbines were placed equal distance off the wind tunnel wall. The purpose of setting the
turbines in this manner was to see the effect of the turbines when they are placed side
by side. The turbines are both calibrated. We were aware of the fact that these two
turbines were not exactly equal distance. There was some inaccuracy. The two turbines
that were calibrated were also off by 2-4%. This is due to the manufacturing
inconsistency of the motors. The distance between the two turbines was 3D. 3D is the
standard length of most offshore wind farm. The diameters of the turbines are 20cm.
The figure below shows the visual illustration of the setup. (figure 36)

37

Figure 36: Two Wind Turbines

The experimental result did not show any change in the power of these two
turbines. As mention earlier, we have to take into account that the difference in the
calibration and the inaccuracy when setting up the turbine, equal distance from the wall.
The both of the turbines were set to be 1 foot away from the wall, but we mounted the
turbines on plywood. The plywood was not all the same size.
Taking account of the discrepancies, the power output did not change. We had
similar results from both of the wind turbines. This is the last analysis we will be doing
side by side. The change in power is insignificant. They both remain the same We can
come to a conclusion wind turbines placed at 3D side to side will not have any drop in
pressure. We can see the Results shown below.

38

Side by Side
0.012
Left
Right

Electrical Power (W)

0.01

0.008

0.006

0.004

0.002

5
6
7
Wind Speed (m/s)

10

11

Figure 37: Side by Side Result

Experiment 3
For this following experiment, 3 turbines (which was calibrated) were placed
straight behind one another. The distance behind one another was 6D (the conventional
distance for offshore turbines). One of the major discrepancies in this experiment was
the first turbine. The first calibration of the first turbine was 15% greater than the other
two. We also have to consider the boundary layer effects. The first one was placed
close to the inlet. The experiment was continued to see the difference in angular
velocity. The figure below shows the setup of the experiment. (Figure 38)

39

Figure 38: Three Wind Turbines Non Staggering

Due to the calibration on the first turbine, the power output was also less than the
second and third turbine. But the second turbine had a higher output than the third
turbine. When we compare angular velocity, the first turbine was higher, and the second
and third were lower in order. This shows the effect in the second and third column. The
power rating of the turbines are shown below with the increasing velocity.
Coloumns Non Staggering
0.012
Front
Middle
Last

Electrical Power (W)

0.01

0.008

0.006

0.004

0.002

5
6
7
Wind Speed (m/s)

10

11

Figure 39: Columns Non Staggering Results

40

Experiment 4
For the fourth experiment, we placed the turbines staggered to one another in
rows. For this experiment, we moved the second turbine 1.5D to the left from where it
was positioned from experiment 3. From the 1st experiment, we knew the first turbine
had some discrepancies, so we were expecting a similar result for this experiment as
well.

Figure 40: Three Turbines Staggering

From the fourth experiment, we saw another significant drop on the first turbine.
What we saw this time was a greater increase in the third row in power. The staggering
help overcome the wake distribution. The angular velocity also increased compared to
the 3rd experiment. The gap between the 2nd and third turbine in the power graph
decreased.

41

Coloumns Staggering
0.012
Front
Middle
Last

Electrical Power (W)

0.01

0.008

0.006

0.004

0.002

5
6
7
Wind Speed (m/s)

10

11

Figure 41: Columns Staggering Results

Experiment 5
For this experiment, we positioned the turbines in corresponding distance. We
positioned the turbines back to back. There was no staggering in this experiment. We
want to see the effects the second turbine will have by placing the turbines in different
distances. We placed them in a distance 1.5D, 3D, 4D and 5D from each other. This
time the turbines were calibrated at the same amount. The difference was less than 2%.
The turbines were also placed away from the inlet to avoid any boundary layer affects.
We also saw the wake distribution with a smoke test. The setup is illustrated below.

42

Figure 42: Two Turbines 1.5D

This time the results were as expected. As we increase the distance, the power
of the second turbine increases. The slow motion video also shows the wake
distribution of the first turbine affecting the flow of the second turbine.
Back Turbine
0.01
1.5D
3D
4D
5D

0.009
0.008

Electrical Power (W)

0.007
0.006
0.005
0.004
0.003
0.002
0.001
0

5
6
7
Wind Speed (m/s)

10

11

Figure 43: Results for the Back Turbine for Different Spacings

43

Conclusion
The objective of the project was to increase the efficiency of the wind turbines in
every row after the first row. We were aware of the wake distribution from the slow
motion video. With a number of conducted experiments in the wind tunnel, we were able
to find the affects the turbines encounter and how to overcome them. The turbines that
were designed were structurally stable to withstand high velocity in the wind tunnel.
With the addition of the BNC connector, it was possible to measure the voltage without
interfering the wind flow. One important parameter of this experiment is the tip speed
ratio and the power coefficient. The turbine used for the experiment had the same tip
speed ratio and power coefficient. The tip speed ratio is the ratio between the rpm and
the wind velocity. All of the turbines had similar results. The power coefficient is the
output of the electrical power over the input over the input power.

In the Experiments, we took account of the boundary layer affects and the
turbines design. We calibrated each turbines used. The calibration gave us angular
velocity as a function of voltage and power as a function of voltage. The use if the high
sped camera helped us measure the RPM. The high-speed camera also shows the
wake distribution. Experiment one was important in determining which turbines to use.
We calibrated all the turbines. Experiment one also showed the wake distribution.

Experiment 2 was to see any possible affect we may have in the power output by
placing the turbines side by side. We saw that there was affect. We concentrated our
experiments on the affects we will have by placing the turbines in columns. For the third
experiment, we placed 3 turbines back to back. The distance between the turbines is
6D. This experiment helps us acknowledge the boundary layer affects in the wind
tunnel. We saw the first turbine began to decrease in voltage, the second and third
turbine showed predictable results. The third turbine decreased in voltage compared to
the second turbine. Later on in Experiment 4, when we stagger the turbines, we can see
the second and third turbines power outputs are similar. Staggering help us increase the

44

efficiency of the turbines. The greater the distance of the turbines in row, the more
efficient each turbine will be. This was the purpose of the fifth experiments. By changing
the distance between the turbines, we see the power output increasing with greater
distance.

Staggering and increasing the distance between the rows will increase the
efficiency. All the turbines can have similar power output if we can avoid positioning the
turbines directly behind each other. We see this affect in the staggering experiment and
the fifth experiment.

45

Recommendations
For future studies, in order to have a complete wind tunnel, we should consider a
bigger wind tunnel. With a bigger wind tunnel, we can place more turbines and have a
more in depth study. We should also consider a bigger wind turbine. With a bigger wind
turbine we will be able to see a greater wake distribution with the high-speed camera. A
bigger turbine is also easier to manufacture. The motor used in this experiment is a dc
motor. We can optimize the wind turbine design with a magnetic induction motor. These
motors are generally used in actual wind turbines.

The voltages were measured with a multimeter. One multimeter was needed to
measure each turbine. A proper DAQ system with voltage display would make the setup
of the project less stressful. The current DAQ does not display the voltage output. The
data need to be exported to such program like matlab to find the average voltage. This
was time consuming.

46

Acknowledgement
Professor Watkins

Professor Andreopoulos

Professor Gouscha

Mr. Chen

Louis Hernandez

47