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Savonius & Gorlov VAWT by qharley is licensed under the Creative Commons - GNU GPL license.
© 2012 by qharley
Instructions
This little turbine has evolved quite a bit to get here...
Print a top and base, and at least 2 atomic sections.
There are no dove-tail connections yet (coming soon) so be careful when assembling.
The turbine is designed to be threaded onto a 8mm threaded rod. Assemble and glue from the base up, leaving the top section free to rotate in order to get the captive nut in. Glue, allign and push printing filament of your choice through the holes in the blades. Currently configured for 3mm filament, but you can choose any size in the scad file. This will allow other materials like thin aluminium rod etc. to be used.
Given the effect the Savonius section may have on the Gorlov turbine it may be better to print three atomic sections with the support wings. This will make assembly easier, while keeping things balanced.
Almost every aspect of this turbine is now parametric, and while this design uses a Camber of zero, it is very easy to specify the camber for experimentation. A recent study suggested that a camber selection of 2 may aid self starting without the use of a Savonius turbine, but that it will influence the maximum torque that can be harvested.
This version also incorporates a lot of changes to the basic structure to ensure easier assembly and strength thanks to the very nice report written by Imitation on the last published version of the turbine.
It is definitely a work in progress. It is currently only hampered by my unfortunate lack of 3D printer. There are already plans for an integrated base and printable generator on the drawing board... Watch this space for more.
PS: Updated scad file: I had problems with MCAD again - OpenSCAD crashed frequently on my system given the workout I am giving it with this design...