Design & Prototype

Creating and building your prototypes is a big part of this IDU

BHA Design Studio Resources

Our Design Studio is equipped to support your inquiry into designing a Wind Turbine.

As always, we ask that you are:

Safe: Use equipment and materials in a safe way--if it looks dangerous, it probably is. Ask for help.
Smart: Design carefully so you don't waste or damage resources.
Responsible: Use equipment in a responsible and sustainable way:
- Reduce/Reuse/Recycle your materials whenever possible.

Learn more about our BHA Design resources here

Laser Cutter

3D Printers

Materials and Fabrication Options

Our BHA Design Studio has some advanced equipment to support your inquiry. Your team will have access to the Laser Cutter and the 3D Printers. All our equipment is connected to servers--you can prepare your file on your computer and then upload it to the server for the printer or laser cutter.

Materials

You have a variety of materials available to create your Wind Turbine with. In addition to the basic kit and basic tools (scissors, knives, glue guns, etc.), we have a variety of woods, plastics, and cards, that can be use to create your design.

Materials can be accessed from the area by the Design Lab.

CAD/CAM Tools

Tutorials

Design your aerofoil profile

You can do this by hand or in software.

There are several tutorials to help you develop your blade profile.

Review them and choose the ones that are appropriate for your needs.

Draw your aerofoil by hand

You can draw out the shape you want and then trace it onto the material you want to use. Cut it by hand with a knife or scissors.

2. Use Airfoil Designer to design your airfoil.

If you chose the airfoil as your independent variable, you can use this tool to create your designs:

Airfoil Designer

3. Create your blade profile or parts on the laser cutter.

You can do this by hand or in software.

This step: Create your profile in Fusion 360

Next step: Set up Adobe illustrator (See slides below)

Cutting a blade on the laser cutter

3.2 Tutorial for making blade profiles to assemble

Tutorial- Creating an aerofoil shape in Fusion 360.mp4

Laser cutter workflow

Follow these instructions to set up your illustrator file for laser cutting.

You MUST use this template in your illustrator file.

laser cutter workflow, POSTER

4. 3D modeling a blade

Create a complete blade in Fusion 360.

*This is a good option if your testing requires accurate aerofoil shapes

Designing a blade in Fusion 360

5. 3D printing a blade

Please see your design teacher or Mr. Song (Design Technician) for help with this step.

Reminder: 3D printing a 40mm blade can take 3-4 hours. Plan your time accordingly

Prusa Workflow

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