College - Author 1

College of Engineering

Department - Author 1

Mechanical Engineering Department

Degree Name - Author 1

BS in Mechanical Engineering

College - Author 2

College of Engineering

Department - Author 2

Mechanical Engineering Department

Degree - Author 2

BS in Mechanical Engineering

College - Author 3

College of Engineering

Department - Author 3

Mechanical Engineering Department

Degree - Author 3

BS in Mechanical Engineering

Date

3-2021

Primary Advisor

John G. Fabijanic, College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department

Abstract/Summary

The Cal Poly Wind Power Club is entering the 2021 Collegiate Wind Competition (CWC) in June. Last year, three senior project teams were assigned to collaborate and assist the club with the pitching mechanism, the rotor balancing, and the manufacturing process. As the manufacturing team, the goal of our project was to design a manufacturing process for the bladegeometry given. The manufacturing process was required to meet the team’s expectations and CWC’s performance requirements to place highly in the competition taking place in June 2021.These expectations included creating a manufacturing process that is repeatable and reliable for future competitions. The manufactured blades had to be dimensionally accurate up to less than one percent error between each of the three blades. The blades also needed to be as light as possible to be efficient, thus the blades needed to be less than half a pound each. The manufactured blades also needed to be as smooth as 0.25 microns to ensure aerodynamic performance is not compromised. Our finalized process met the requirements for almost all these requirements. The dimensional accuracy of the blades is less than one percent error between the blades, however, some additional changes will be needed for future blades which be explained later in the report. The finalized blades far surpass the goals given by the WPC, only weighing 1/8 of a pound each compared to the half pound goal. Lastly the surface roughness of the blades did not meet the 0.25-micron requirement, however, we believe that the final design reaches a smoothness that will be acceptable for the competition. Solutions to make the blades smoother are also given in the report if the WPC believes the finalized blades do not meet their requirements.

Included in

Manufacturing Commons

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