MILESTONE 1 (STAGE 0) – PRE-PROJECT RESEARCH

MEMO
Team Number: Mon-52
This is an individual deliverable and should be submitted by each team member prior to Design
Studio 3.
® Complete your pre-project research memo on the following page

At the beginning of Design Studio 3, we will be asking that you copy-and-paste

the Pre-Project Research Memo below into Milestone One Team Worksheets.
It does seem redundant, but there are valid reasons for this:
• Each team member needs to submit their Pre-Project Research Memo
with the Milestone One Individual Worksheets document so that it can
be graded
• Compiling your individual work into this Milestone One Team Worksheets
document allows you to readily access your team member’s work
o This will be especially helpful when completing Stage 1 of the
milestone

1 Project-1
Please list Team Member that is submitting the memo.

Full Name: MacID:

Danielle Fong fongd5
Summary of wind turbine blade technology and potential design considerations.
Each individual research memo should be no more than one page, excluding
references.
Introduction:
The use of renewable energy resources has increased rapidly around the world
replacing fossil fuels. The burning of fossil fuels accounts for three-quarters of
greenhouse gas emissions around the globe, but alternative energy sources
decrease air pollution and are much more sustainable. Wind energy is one of
the leading renewable energy sources as it generates 1,400THh of power
annually around the world. [1] Wind energy is created due to the global
circulation and solar radiation of the Earth. The tilt on the Earth’s axis and the
uneven heating of the Earth allows for heat to transfer around the globe,
creating wind. [2] Wind turbines are 50-100m high in order to catch stronger
winds and consist of rotor blades and a generator that converts the kinetic
energy from the rotation of the blades into electrical energy. [3]

Design factors:
Wind turbines function through aerodynamic interactions between blades and
the wind, creating drag and lift devices to produce kinetic energy. Drag devices
act parallel to the wind flow as the wind pushes on the blades causing them to
turn. [4] The blades of drag devices are usually flat or cupped. Lift devices act
perpendicular to the wind flow and consist of 3 large blades. The blades are
rounded on one surface and flat on the other side to increase airflow. [4] Drag
devices are easier to construct but require more material while lift devices
require less materials but are harder to construct. Lift devices are capable of
producing 100 times more power per unit surface area than a drag device,
making it a more commercial structure. [2] Constructing longer blades allows
for more winds to interact with the blades, ultimately increasing energy
production for each rotation. [5]

References (adhere to IEEE notation)

2 Project-1
***references do not count toward word count / page limit

[1] H. Ritchie and M. Roser, “Our World in Data,” Renewable Energy [Online].
Available: https://ourworldindata.org/renewable-energy [Accessed:
September 27, 2020].
[2] V. Nelson and K. Starcher, Wind Energy: Renewable Energy and the
Environment. Boca Raton, 2018
[3] Hanania et al., “Energy Education,” Wind Turbine [Online]. Available:
https://energyeducation.ca/encyclopedia/Wind_turbine [Accessed:
September 27, 2020].
[4] J. Layton, “How stuff works,” How Wind Power Works [Online]. Available:
https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/wind-
power.htm#pt3 [Accessed: September 27, 2020].
[5] J. Chen and Q. Wang, Wind Turbine Airfoils and Blades: Optimization Design
Theory. De Gruyter, Inc., 2017

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MILESTONE 1 (STAGE 1) – INITIAL PROBLEM STATEMENT

Please complete this worksheet in your corresponding team document.

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MILESTONE 1 (STAGE 2) – PRELIMINARY OBJECTIVE TREE
Team Number: Mon-52

This is an individual deliverable each team member will complete during Design
Studio 3.
® Review the 4 different engineering scenarios outlined in the Project 1
module
® The Project Manager will assign each team member one scenario
® Complete a preliminary objective tree for your assigned scenario on the
following page

Name: Danielle MacID: fongd5

Engineering Scenario #: 1
Renewable Energy for a Large Population

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MILESTONE 1 (STAGE 3) – REFINED OBJECTIVE TREE

Please complete this worksheet in your corresponding team document.

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