Project One Milestone (Individual) Worksheets

Milestone 1 (Individual) – Cover Page

Team Number:	Fri-57

Please list full name and MacID.

Full Name:	MacID:
Erion Keka	Kekae

Milestone 1 (Stage 0) – Research Memo

Team ID: kekae	Fri-57

This is an individual deliverable and should be completed by each team member prior to Design Studio 3.

Summary of wind turbine blade technology and potential design considerations.

Each individual research memo should be no more than one page, excluding references.

Introduction: With continuous advancements in society, the usage of wind turbines has begun to skyrocket. This has led to many advancements in wind turbine blade technology. There are three main factors that influence the power output as discussed by Energy Education are wind speed, air density, and blade radius [1]. Wind turbines function through the utilization of their blades, which are used to collect kinetic energy from the wind. As wind flows over the blades, a lift is created that causes the turning of the blades. The turbine blades are connected to a drive shaft which generates electricity through the rotation of the electric generator. These wind turbines are designed in a manner that can help to maximize the radius of the rotor blade which maximizes the output of power; larger blades capture more kinetic energy. The wind turbine converts the kinetic energy drawn from the blades into electrical energy that is used to supply power to cities all around the world. As blades increase, the maximum potential output of electrical energy increases as more wind is captured causing more stronger rotations of the blades.

Design factors: The design of the wind turbine blade is crucial to maximizing the capture of kinetic energy from the wind. Many design factors of wind turbine blades concern the construction and model of the blades. The wind turbine blades must be designed in a manner that can maximize the lift or drag of the wind to extract energy. The lifting force of the blade is perpendicular to the drag force; the lifting force is more beneficial than the drag force as it provides higher rotational speeds which increases the kinetic energy drawn. The number of wind turbine blades is also an important design factor for wind turbine construction. Increasing the number of blades increases the efficiency of a wind turbine, but also increases the total cost of construction. However, a decrease in blades can also cause issues such as induced stress on the blades. The number of blades is more preferably produced to be odd, as an even set of blades can cause an imbalance in the blades thus increasing vibrations and stress while decreasing the efficiency. The placement of the blades is also a design factor that must be considered as they cannot be placed opposite (180 degrees of each other) each other. This factor of design can be related to the pitch and angle of the blades, as each blade have an optimum pitch and angle to maximize the harvest of kinetic energy. The length of the blades also plays a huge role in the extraction of kinetic energy from the wind as an increase in the size of the blades can capture more wind; however, the length of the blades can significantly increase the cost of construction. The materials used for the wind turbine blades are also a significant design factor because they play a role in the structural integrity of the blade but can have a severe impact on the turbines’ total cost.