Jehan Yang

Milliscale Wind Turbine

A team of mechanical engineering students built a milliscale wind turbine to be used as a small generator. My main role was to research airfoil design for low-Reynold-number flows in order to make the wind turbine efficient.

This project was used to practice mechanical CADing skills, and to research a novel method of producing energy. By experimenting with energy production using a small wind turbine, we could research effective turbine designs for unique scenarios. My work in designing the blades used in the wind turbine involved reading research papers to see which airfoil designs are best for low-Reynold-number flow, the twist and angles needed in the blades, and the sizing of the blades along the radial directions.