wind turbine triple helix

thingiverse

Inspired by conversations with Drew and Art Turbine along with a newly acquired 3D printer, I designed and tested multiple iterations of vertical axis wind turbines. Using Solidworks, I created an approximation of the two-bladed Art Turbine design and also experimented with two helical designs. After conducting basic tests using a fan as a wind source, I found that the three-bladed, untapered design is the most efficient one. The Art Turbine looks more visually appealing though, and it might perform better with three blades. Unbalanced torque while rotating could potentially induce vibrations with two blades, resulting in a vibration frequency twice the rotational speed. A three-bladed configuration would likely smooth out torque variations.