Running head: EMWIT PROPOSAL PAPER 1

EMWiT - Electric Motor with Wind Turbine

Lauren Warner, Shannon Woolfolk, Paulina Hall

December 15, 2016

A special thanks to Dr. Psaker, our mentor, Dr. Guitierrez, for helping with 3D printing, and the

Governors School at Innovation Park

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Abstract

The Electric Motor with Wind Turbine Component to Extend Run Time, also known

as EMWiT, is an effort to make electric motors and cars more accessible to the general public by

extending the time the motor can run before an external power source is needed to recharge the

battery. Through the introduction of a wind turbine in parallel with the battery, a clean energy

source is able to supplement the voltage drawn from the battery. The project encompasses the

complete construction of an electric motor and wind turbine. With a 3D-printed armature frame

and 3D-printed wind turbine parts, the construction of EMWiT is aided heavily by 3D-printing

technology. In addition, supplies such as magnets, two different types of wire, and sheet metal will

be used to build the electric motor. The wind turbine will use the 3D-printed materials as well as

a small generator to convert the mechanical (wind) energy to electrical energy.

The electric motor is constructed based on a scaled-down design of a simple electric motor.

Once the armature frame is 3D-printed, magnet wire will be wrapped around each of the spokes to

form the basis for the electromagnet. Permanent magnets mounted on the aluminum exterior frame

will surround the electromagnet and the commutator and brushes will cause a rotating attraction-

repulsion force between the electromagnet and the permanent magnets. The wind turbine blades

and hub will be assembled once 3D-printed and connected to the generator. Insulated wire will

connect the electric motor, wind turbine, and battery in parallel to achieve the desired result.

At this time, no testing has occurred. The construction of the electric motor is still

occurring. All initial supplies have been ordered and the armature is currently being 3D-printed.

The wind turbine parts are in the process of being 3D-printed as well. Once these elements are
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completed, testing will soon begin. The ultimate goal of this experiment is to mount the product

on a basic mobile structure in order to test whether the product is applicable for the real world.
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Introduction and Background

Over the past decade, reports of a significant increase in the planets temperature have

become common. This temperature rise, also known as climate change or global warming, is the

effect of increased carbon emissions into the atmosphere. In order to reduce the carbon footprint

of humans, there is an increased effort to reduce the dependence of humans on burning fossil fuels.

Due to this, there is a high demand for electric cars, with Teslas 2018 Model 3 electric car

possessing a waiting list of almost 200,000 people and counting (Fehrenbacher). The goal for

manufacturers is to make electric cars more convenient by maximizing battery efficiency and

affordability for consumers. Electric cars, when using an external power source to recharge the

battery, can take anywhere from 3.5 to 10 hours to fully recharge (Popely). This proves inefficient

for working adults who have a travel average of almost 20,000 miles a year with the ratio of quick

recharge stations for electric cars to gas stations in the United States only 1 in every 11.2.

Innovators are searching for ways to maximize the run time of the electric motor before the battery

source needs to be recharged externally. EMWiT addresses these problems by providing a clean,

alternate power source to supplement the batterys charge for the electric motor system. This will

thereby increase the run time of the car and decrease the need for immediate external recharging.

The wind turbine uses a renewable, environmentally-friendly source of energy to help decrease

carbon emissions, creating a natural progression towards the goal of eliminating the use of fossil

fuels in transportation altogether.

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Question

EMWiT is attempting to investigate how to construct and design a working electric motor

from scratch, how to construct a wind turbine using 3D printed parts, and how to better the electric

motor/car to make it more accessible for long-distance driving. The purpose of EMWiT is to

determine whether an electric motor can be modified to extend run time by incorporating a wind

turbine component in parallel with a battery. The goal is not to create a perpetual motion machine,

but instead it is to see if a wind turbine can produce enough energy to power an electric motor or

supplement the power from the battery. In order to successfully implement EMWiT, an electric

motor will be constructed, along with a wind turbine, and multiple tests will follow in order to

determine success or failure. This combination of research and experimentation is a defining part

of this project, and a major question for the experiment is how the research can be used to aid

EMWiT. To begin, the main questions were how all these individual elements work and how can

they be constructed. From there, the questions evolved into how these designs can be improved

upon and how they can be implemented in everyday life. The main question is how can a wind

turbine and electric motor be combined so that the range of the electric motor can be extended.
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Hypothesis

Hypothesis:

If a wind turbine and an electric motor are combined in a parallel circuit with a battery,

then the wind turbine will provide an additional source of voltage for the motor, increasing the run

time of the electric motor by minimizing the power drawn from the battery and lengthening the

time before the motors battery needs to be recharged by an external power source.

Null Hypothesis:

If the two components are combined, the wind turbine will have no effect on the run time

of the motor because it does not generate enough power/voltage to make a significant impact.
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Materials/ Methods

Constructing the armature:

The materials needed for the armature of the motor consist of a 3D-printed armature frame,

28 AWG magnet wire, 1000 g of iron filings, a solid aluminum axle of diameter 0.8125 inches,

epoxy glue, and a 6 x 6 inch copper plate for the commutator. The armature frame, as shown in

Figure 1, will be 3D-printed, and the end of each spoke will be hollowed out. The iron filings will

go into each of these hollowed out sections in order to allow the magnetization of the armature.

The 28 AWG magnet wire will be wrapped around each of the armature frames spokes, and the

rod will be secured in the center of the armature frame with epoxy glue. The copper plate will be

cut into three small pieces and secured to the aluminum axle with space in-between each of the

copper pieces, forming the commutator of the motor. Altogether, these elements are referred to as

the armature.

Constructing the exterior of the motor:

The exterior of the motor and frame consists of a 36 x 36 inch piece of aluminum sheet

metal, twenty-eight 2-inch-long neodymium magnets, and two carbon motor brushes of size 20

mm x 12 mm x 7 mm. Theses brushes are connected to each of the terminals on the battery by

insulated wire and come into contact with the commutator. They will be attached to exterior of the

motor. The aluminum sheet metal will be formed into a cylindrical shape with the permanent

magnets glued into place roughly 1.5 inches apart. These magnets will be glued with metal to metal

epoxy. The sheet metal will be cylindrical, with small circular holes at each end to allow the axle
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to go through. The armature will be located inside this cylinder and the brushes will rest on two of

the three commutator pieces.

How the motor works:

An electric current is passed through the brushes into the commutator from the battery.

Wire from the magnet wire coils is soldered onto the commutator contacts so that when the carbon

brushes come into contact with the commutator, the armature becomes an electromagnet and the

permanent magnets form an attraction/repulsion force with the electromagnet. This causes the

rotation of the armature, which also rotates the axle.

Wind Turbine:

The whole wind turbine will be 3D printed except for the generator and insulated wire. The

wind turbine is designed to mimic the design of a jet engine in order to maximize the efficiency

while minimizing the air resistance. The blades of the wind turbine are 3D printed as well as the

hub, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. Each of the seventeen blades slides into a slot in the hub and

will be secured there with epoxy glue. The generator is then attached to the hub so the rotation of

the wind turbine also causes the rotation of the generators axle, in order to generate a current. The

insulated copper wire is attached to the contacts on the generator and placed in parallel with the

battery and the electric motor in order to supplement the power drawn from the battery.

Data collection is discussed in Data, Results, and Analysis as no experimentation has

occurred at this time.

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Figure 1: Model of the 3D-printed armature frame.

Figure 2: Model of the 3D printed wind turbine hub. Each divot in the outer ring of the hub is a
slot for one of the 17 wind turbine blades to be inserted.

Figure 3: Model of a single wind turbine fan blade. Designed to mimic jet engine blade design.
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Data/ Results and Analysis

There will be four separate steps of testing that will confirm the final result of the

experiment. The first test will assess if the electric motor runs independent of the wind turbine

component by measuring the RPM with a Vernier Photogate. This test will serve as the control

trial for future testing of the electric motor. The Vernier Photogate Sensor will measure the velocity

at which a spoke connected to the axle breaks the connection of the laser between each of the

prongs. From there, the RPM can be calculated from the tangential velocity. The second test will

measure the power generated by the wind turbine when it is not connected to the battery or the

electric motor. A multimeter will measure both the voltage and current from the wind turbine in

order to calculate the power produced. A fan set at high speed will cause the motion of the wind

turbine in order to mimic the force of air resistance while a car is in motion. Once the first two

tests are complete, the wind turbine, battery, and electric motor will be placed in parallel. The RPM

of the electric motor will be tested while the wind turbine generates power in order to determine

whether the wind turbine will have a significant effect on the RPM of the motor. If the RPM has

significantly decreased, the wind turbine will be modified to produce a higher voltage before the

final step of testing begins. The RPM will be measured in the same manner as the RPM was

measured in the first step of testing. The final test will measure the run time of the motor with the

wind turbine, battery, and electric motor in parallel. The amount of time the electric motor can run

with the battery initially charged and the wind turbine in parallel with both elements will be

measured with a timer. Currently, no testing has occurred, however EMWiT is in the beginning

stages of construction. Once all four steps of testing are completed, the electric motor and wind
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turbine will be mounted on a basic mobile structure to test the components in a real world

application.
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References

Brain, M. (2000, April 01). How Electric Motors Work. Retrieved October 11, 2016, from

http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/motor.htm/printable

Bullis, K. (2008, December 1). A Design for Cheaper Wind Power. Retrieved October 10, 2016,

from https://www.technologyreview.com/s/411274/a-design-for-cheaper-wind-power/ .

Cowern Papers. (n.d.). motorsanddrives.com - purchase industrial motors and drives online.

Retrieved from http://www.motorsanddrives.com/cowern/motorterms2-print.htm.

Emadi, A., Lee, Y. J., & Rajashekara, K. (2008). Power electronics and motor drives in electric,

hybrid electric, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. IEEE Transactions on industrial

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Fehrenbacher, K. (2016). Get Ready For a Long Wait Before Getting Your Tesla Model 3.

Retrieved December 16, 2016, from http://fortune.com/2016/04/01/wait-time-tesla-

model-3/.

MSC Industrial Direct Co. (2016). Motors Technical Information | MSC Industrial Supply Co.

Retrieved from https://www.mscdirect.com/basicsof/motors.

Popely, R. (2013, November 09). How Quickly Does the Tesla Model S Battery Charge?

Retrieved December 15, 2016, from https://www.cars.com/articles/2013/11/how-quickly-

does-the-tesla-model-s-charge/ .

Slootweg, J. G., De Haan, S. W. H., Polinder, H., & Kling, W. L. (2003). General model for

representing variable speed wind turbines in power system dynamics simulations. IEEE

Transactions on power systems, 18(1), 144-151.

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Song, S. H., Kang, S. I., & Hahm, N. K. (2003, February). Implementation and control of grid

connected AC-DC-AC power converter for variable speed wind energy conversion system.

In Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, 2003. APEC'03. Eighteenth

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