Vertical axis wind turbine

grabcad

This model demonstrates a Vertical Axis Wind Turbine (VAWT) concept that was initially created on SW2006. Upon upgrading to SW2011, the nuts and bolts disappeared, but their placements are still evident. The goal of this design was to explore an innovative blend of airfoil back and bucket before constructing a prototype. Adjustable rotor angles in 5-degree increments were included to study their impact on performance. A prototype was built and tested in real-world conditions (see video). The turbine performed best when angled tangentially with the adjuster pegs in the middle hole, suggesting further exploration of a flat-backed version could be worthwhile.