Purpose: Renewable energy such as wind can be inefficient and unpleasant to look at, our purpose will be to engineer more efficient, smaller scale wind energy production that will not impede local landscape views.

Industry Advancement: By using computational fluid dynamics software in combination of 3D metal printing advancements can be made in airfoil design for wind turbines.  Corporations such as siemens have advanced their software package to streamline the process from design to simulation with their NX package in combination with Simcenter and STAR-CCM+. The idea of this process is to iterate and create the highest degree of efficiency without the need for a physical prototype and validation. A vertical wind turbine typically has an efficiency of 40% whereas the theoretical maximum for wind energy is about 59%. Current horizontal wind turbines extract about 50% efficiency, but require tremendous base platforms and are hundreds of feet tall. So, if a vertical turbine can be used instead the overall height and footprint can be optimized using CFD to make the most efficient airfoil design possible and the use of 3d metal printing will allow for an exact design to be made not only for fluid flow optimization but for strength and weight optimization. Processes such as Metal AM (Additive Manufacturing) is a new way to create complex metal parts which are essentially 3D metal printed. Agencies such as NASA created a test for material strength to ensure quality control and which blend of metal will be the best for the application at hand, it is worth noting Auburn University also helped with the testing creation. While metal printing is promising, it is not the only approach to creating a highly efficient airfoil, the use of CFD would still be the 1^st step, but the airfoil fabrication would be how it differs. If the demand was high for the airfoil, a 3D printed mold could be made to create casting for high volume while keeping the key contouring features needed for the high efficiency.

Incorporation: This process would be very beneficial in a few different stages of the overall project. The modelling and simulations would be very important in the modules phase and sub assembly phase, because if a design can be made that is much more efficient, then the overall size can be reduced due to the increased efficiency which means materials can be reduced for support. The software package will also help make decisions for stresses involved within the assembly and individual parts, this will help validate calculations based on given assumptions for load paths before any actual manufacturing is performed. This process from a first glance showed a major advantages and advancements over traditional modelling and design creation. The Siemens software package allows the user to quickly run simulations with the actual model versus having to create a mesh over the existing part, which is not an issue for smaller items, but for parts containing many parts and complex features this requires a massive amount of computing power to the point buying server time is needed. The use of this software does not create any challenges within my design, but rather enhances the quality and I could not find a downside aside from the cost of the program. However, the use of 3D metal printing based off of the design rendered from the modelling software does create the challenge of the design itself, design of the intended part needs to be thought of in the beginning stages of design otherwise the part will not be optimized. Other Challenges include sizing for economic growth, as 3D metal printing is very expensive and would not be feasible for a 35 ft. Tower.

            The use of 3D printing to help advance my project in multiple ways, the first is by creating a finished product that is to the exact specification from my CAD design and the second is by creating a mold or parts that would otherwise be very time intensive to make. The biggest decision is the cost to benefit ratio to incorporate these methods into my design or if traditional machining will suffice, however other factors including feasibility of making such large printed components vs traditionally made, the time requirement for completion and the overall tolerances that can be achieved with 3D printing versus traditional machining.

Resources:   

https://www.machinedesign.com/3d-printing-cad/article/21175581/put-the-metal-to-the-pedal

https://www.asme.org/topics-resources/content/metal-injection-molding-or-metal-additive-manufacturing-which-one-is-best-for-your-project

https://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/global/en/our-story/glossary/cfd-simulation/67873

https://www.airflowsciences.com/sites/default/files/docs/Pros-and-Cons-of-CFD-and-Physical-Flow-Modeling.pdf

https://all3dp.com/1/casting-metal-parts-with-3d-printed-patterns-best-practices/

https://www.eurekamagazine.co.uk/design-engineering-blogs/the-top-7-design-tips-for-3d-metal-printing/164735/