Michael Gibilaro

I created a makeshift wind tunnel out of PVC pipe and 1/2" insulating foam board in order to test different turbine designs.

The wind tunnel with the foam board attached.

Wind tunnel with a prototype of a typical Savonious wind turbine. The turbine was constructing out of thin aluminum flashing, with wood strip supports to maintain blade integrity.

Part of my testing included measuring the force being experienced by the turbine at various angles of rotation. I was able to do this by creating a 'degree wheel' sketched onto a piece of cardboard and attaching a string to the center of the turbine blade. As the turbine rotated, the force was measured using a handheld luggage scale.

This is the final design prototype that I designed and rendered in SolidWorks. The blades adjacent to the turbine were inspired by airfoils from an aircraft. I created these based on my test data gathered, and noticing that the turbine blades exerted similar properties to that of an airplane wing.

Top view of the final design.

The physical prototype that I had created. It consisted of the two main turbine blades, along with two adjacent auxiliary blades rotated 45 degrees from the horizontal. Another feature that I wanted to include was to have the blades sit flush against the main blades, then extend outwards at a certain speed. This was accomplished by using springs and couplings, allowing the blades to slide on the mounting shafts.