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
College - Author 4
College of Engineering
Department - Author 4
Mechanical Engineering Department
Degree - Author 4
BS in Mechanical Engineering
Date
6-2022
Primary Advisor
Daniel Castro, College of Engineering, Mechanical Engineering Department
Abstract/Summary
Over the 2021-2022 academic year, we, the Shallow Water Wind Turbine Foundation senior project team, designed, manufactured, and tested a fixed bottom, sand mounted turbine foundation for the Cal Poly Wind Power Club’s Collegiate Wind Competition turbine. The foundation was restricted to certain material, installation, and geometric constraints outlined in this report, and needed to support the turbine under operating conditions including 22 m/s wind speeds. The design was analyzed using primarily a bearing capacity geotechnical analysis to determine final geometry and weight. The foundation was then manufactured using welded, custom carbon steel parts.
The foundation was inspected for geometric constraints, weighed, and tested for catastrophic failure before beginning performance testing. Performance testing included the use of pull tests to simulate the thrust load of the wind on the turbine nacelle to determine the ability of the foundation to support loads equivalent to and greater than those experienced by the turbine under wind loading. We found that the foundation can support 27.5 ± 1.1 m/s wind speed on the turbine during operation at its lowest weight configuration based on analysis of our testing data. This surpasses the required 22 m/s wind speed considerably.
This foundation design provides the club with a functional foundation to use for testing in the Collegiate Wind Competition next year. It also provides the basis for design iteration for future competition teams to succeed in the Collegiate Wind Competition.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/mesp/673
Included in
Geotechnical Engineering Commons, Ocean Engineering Commons, Other Mechanical Engineering Commons, Structural Engineering Commons