A Holistic Design Approach for a Micro Wind Turbine Powertrain

Abstract This paper proposes a holistic design methodology for a Micro Wind Turbine (MWT) powertrain. The design process integrates the design of an Axial-Flux Permanent Magnet (AFPM) Generator into the aerodynamic design methodology based on Blade Element Momentum (BEM) Theory. This approach shares aerodynamic blade inputs as parameters for the electromagnetic generator design. Tackling this as an integrated multidisciplinary design problem allows early identification of the limitations of the electrical and mechanical design domains. Early identification allows a more effective tuning and refinement of the design parameters. QBlade was used to simulate the performance of the blade design. A MATLAB script simulates the AFPM generator geometry on FEMM to determine the peak magnetic flux at the stator. The power curve simulation in MATLAB used the design parameters and a Thevenin equivalent circuit model to estimate the design performance. A case study following the proposed methodology for a 20cm rotor MWT is presented to benchmark the model accuracy. Preliminary results show that the AFPM model matched the generator’s simulated power curve with 85% accuracy. The micro wind turbine prototype reached 10.5 W of nominal power at a wind speed of 15 m/s during testing at the 2022 Collegiate Wind Competition wind tunnel.