Build yourself a wind power plant!

Everybody is talking about green energy nowadays... Graceful curves fascinate me as a designer. So I decided to build a wind power plant. Clean lines... Blades of the propeller have to be aerodynamic and functional too. Slim pillar rises upwards. What a beauty!      Our school have started a 3D printing, so why not take the opportunity? I wanted to create something interesting, nice-looking and functional. Thanks to the 3D printer not just in a virtual world. My goal was to make the thing working – when the wind strikes the propeller will rotate. Not an easy task to complete right at the beginning.      Now it’s time to invent it. With respect to technology of 3D printing and accuracy of the printer I started to design all the parts. You can print them without the need to print in the air, which is better to avoid. At the same time, you have to test the deposition of the parts. All of them must fit in just so. Dimensions of the pins are therefore reduced by a few tenths of mm, the holes are enlarged etc.      SOLIDWORKS allows saving to ’.stl’ format that was used to create the G-code for the printer. And then it was just waiting. If only! To tune some components wasn’t that easy. Aerodynamic shape of the propeller, the curvature and the right orientation, due to the nature of the air flow took some trial prints. The base was also a hard nut to crack because of the large area, the bending occurred. Changing the temperature and rounding the corners helped. After all parts were printed they could be put together. The perfect feeling when you succeed! Everything fits.      Prototype of the wind power plant is done. The propeller revolves smoothly. (Yes, I have lubricated it.) But will it survive the fire (=wind) test? It’s windy today, check. And the propeller – revolves! Check. Awesome – my creation works. (You can see it on the video.) Now I have my own wind power plant at home!      Approximate dimensions:    Height: 50 cm   Propeller diameter: 28 cm   Weight: 100 g   Colour: white and green (any colour)   Print time: under 10h (according to the printer)      You can disassemble it and assemble it again.  And it works.        (I have created a 3D model of each part, '.stl' files, drawings and an assembly. Then the 3D printed parts and assembled them in reality.)