Welcome to the project page for the AFWT. Check out the story of our project below, or feel free to check out the full photo gallery by clicking here or check out our SolidWorks and Inventor 3D models by clicking here.
- Successful design and fabrication of a 1.8 kilowatt turbine prototype
- Design focused on modularity, local sources of scrap material as replacement parts and the use of only basic tools to assemble.
- Project was a finalist in the inaugural Arctic Innovation Challenge coordinated by the UAF School of Business.
- Developed and self-published a "DIY How-to Guide" to facilitate technology adoption in rural Alaska.
- Featured in a CGC newsletter article (.PDF file) promoting student led projects
While there were many significant challenges over the course of the year-long project, the biggest hurdle the team faced came with just three weeks before the project's deadline. We assembled the turbine prototype and prepared to do some basic functionality tests with it mounted on the lathe.
The bad news came quickly: the prototype produced little more than noise at every speed at which it was tested. Our design, which was supposed to produce approximately 1 kilowatt of power instead produced nothing.
I gave the team just 24 hours to do research to discover, and recommend remedies for, the underlying problem. It would have been easy to feel like we were up against insurmountable odds; after all we had just three weeks to fix a prototype that had been in development for nine months. But instead the situation inspired us to perform. We quickly discovered the issue lay with the rotors. The geometry of the magnet array was actually preventing the generation of a clean signal. Adding just two more magnets would give us the geometry we needed to unleash the potential that was present. We would have to redesign and rebuild the rotors.
I created an animation, which I've embedded below, to explain this situation to a few of our informal advisers helping with the electrical design. Unfortunately, they didn't see how the addition of two small magnets would boost output from zero to over 1000 watts. They advised that we consider scrapping the project, saying "lesson learned" and moving on.
The original rotor design had 10 magnets around its circumference. Each wired phase of the generator is represented by green, pink and yellow rectangles. To successfully produce power, each set of coils must have the same magnet polarity (North or South) above them. Notice that this is never achieved with the 10-magnet array.
While we considered using 18-magnets on the rotors, that would have produced a generator that acted more like a single-phase machine rather than the true three phases we desired. This animation allowed us to realize that 12-magnets created the perfect geometry for our generator prototype. Looking at the phase firing we see that each phase fires in order and with opposite polarity, thus creating the ideal electrical signal.
This convinced our project's principal adviser that a rotor rebuild would fix the problem. We were able to rebuild and install the new rotors in under a week. The result was a generator that produced nearly 2 kilowatts of power. The improved design caused us to beat our design goal by almost 100%.
Multimedia:
Some selected content from the course of the project is shared here. *All content is the author's and is protected by copyright.
DIY Fabrication Guide Book
Flip the pages or click the links to view full screen.
Selected Pictures From The Project
Conclusion:
This was an extremely challenging project and the greatest hands-on learning experience I had as an undergraduate. I learned valuable skills in applied design, project management and fabrication. Most importantly, however, our team learned self-sufficiency, persistence and how to work cohesively under pressure.
I use these critical thinking and project management skills everyday and they have been invaluable to me as I pursue my master's degree at Ohio State.
Introduction:
At the University of Alaska I led a team of students that investigated axial-flux wind turbines for use in rural Alaska. This work was made possible by the Center For Global Change, a UA foundation. In spring of 2009 I co-authored a grant to the foundation that laid out our plan to design, build and test an axial-flux permanent magnet wind generator. We were honored to be one of just three undergraduate teams selected for this award. Principal design, including the design of our various molds and jigs, took place over the summer. Construction of the unit and tooling began in the fall and lasted through the winter. Testing and optimization took place through the spring and included both bench testing of the prototype as well as truck testing on isolated roads.
Project Highlights:
- Student run team coordinating all aspects of schedule, finances, research and fabrication in addition to school and work responsibilities.- Successful design and fabrication of a 1.8 kilowatt turbine prototype
- Design focused on modularity, local sources of scrap material as replacement parts and the use of only basic tools to assemble.
- Project was a finalist in the inaugural Arctic Innovation Challenge coordinated by the UAF School of Business.
- Developed and self-published a "DIY How-to Guide" to facilitate technology adoption in rural Alaska.
- Featured in a CGC newsletter article (.PDF file) promoting student led projects
Project Hurdle: Design of Magnet Rotors
While there were many significant challenges over the course of the year-long project, the biggest hurdle the team faced came with just three weeks before the project's deadline. We assembled the turbine prototype and prepared to do some basic functionality tests with it mounted on the lathe.
 |
| Generator prototype mounted on lathe for preliminary functionality tests |
I gave the team just 24 hours to do research to discover, and recommend remedies for, the underlying problem. It would have been easy to feel like we were up against insurmountable odds; after all we had just three weeks to fix a prototype that had been in development for nine months. But instead the situation inspired us to perform. We quickly discovered the issue lay with the rotors. The geometry of the magnet array was actually preventing the generation of a clean signal. Adding just two more magnets would give us the geometry we needed to unleash the potential that was present. We would have to redesign and rebuild the rotors.
I created an animation, which I've embedded below, to explain this situation to a few of our informal advisers helping with the electrical design. Unfortunately, they didn't see how the addition of two small magnets would boost output from zero to over 1000 watts. They advised that we consider scrapping the project, saying "lesson learned" and moving on.
Luckily we didn't listen.
To operate the Flash player, select a magnet configuration. Then operate the animation by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard. To return to the home screen, press the 'Enter' key. If there is no response, click anywhere on the animation.
The original rotor design had 10 magnets around its circumference. Each wired phase of the generator is represented by green, pink and yellow rectangles. To successfully produce power, each set of coils must have the same magnet polarity (North or South) above them. Notice that this is never achieved with the 10-magnet array.
While we considered using 18-magnets on the rotors, that would have produced a generator that acted more like a single-phase machine rather than the true three phases we desired. This animation allowed us to realize that 12-magnets created the perfect geometry for our generator prototype. Looking at the phase firing we see that each phase fires in order and with opposite polarity, thus creating the ideal electrical signal.
This convinced our project's principal adviser that a rotor rebuild would fix the problem. We were able to rebuild and install the new rotors in under a week. The result was a generator that produced nearly 2 kilowatts of power. The improved design caused us to beat our design goal by almost 100%.
Multimedia:
Some selected content from the course of the project is shared here. *All content is the author's and is protected by copyright.
DIY Fabrication Guide Book
Flip the pages or click the links to view full screen.
Selected Pictures From The Project
 |
| An early AutoCAD Inventor model of the stand and tail mount |
 | ||||||
Patrick with part of our mold used in rotor casting
|
 | |
| The finished prototype |
Truck Testing Video
Accelerating from rest to 28 mph while gathering power and frequency data
*RPM's of turbine "breaks" camera frame rate and creates optical illusion
Conclusion:
This was an extremely challenging project and the greatest hands-on learning experience I had as an undergraduate. I learned valuable skills in applied design, project management and fabrication. Most importantly, however, our team learned self-sufficiency, persistence and how to work cohesively under pressure.
I use these critical thinking and project management skills everyday and they have been invaluable to me as I pursue my master's degree at Ohio State.
