Hi-Q Wind Turbine

Hi-Q Wind Turbine, designed & built by DARcorporation auto furled out of the wind.

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Hi-Q Products wind turgine (left) together with Bergey XL.1 in foreground, installed at West TX A&M Alternative Energy Institute.

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DARcorporation designed wind turbine for Hi-Q Products auto furling and holding up in 60 mph winds.

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Finite Element Analysis on the Blades

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Shafts and Ribs

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Carbon Fiber Molds to Manufacture the Wind Mill Blades

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Plugs to be Used to Construct the Molds

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DARcorporation was involved in the aerodynamic design, structural design and prototype testing of the Hi-Q Wind Turbine.

The Hi-Q Wind Turbine is an unconventional horizontal axis wind turbine. Blade Element Momentum (BEM) methods were adopted to analyze this design. The methods were programmed and an in-house code was developed to analyze the performance of the wind turbine. A series of case studies was conducted with varying geometric parameters of the wind turbine. The performance in each case was carefully studied and the Hi-Q design was optimized.

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) cases were simulated to verify the BEM code developed. There was good correlation between the results of the BEM code and CFD. Separate CFD cases were analyzed to extract the loads acting on the blades. These loads were used in the structural analysis of the blades.

Finite Element models were created to analyze the Hi-Q Wind Turbine blades. Layup schedules for the composite blades were determined based on the loads extracted from the CFD simulations.

The Hi-Q Wind Turbine blades were fabricated by DARcorporation engineers. The blades are made out of carbon fiber and the layup schedules were based on the Finite Element analysis.

Hi-Q Products, Inc., Alhambra, CA, was awarded a grant from the California Energy Commission to develop “cutting-edge research projects” funded by the Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program. Research and development continued with grant funding awarded under the Department of Energy’s INVENTIONS & INNOVATIONS program. For additional information, please visit Hi-Q Products.com

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