by ironman87 on Sun Sep 13, 2009 9:22 am
Hi, I'm currently working on a wind turbine using ABS pipe for blade material. I'm actually building 4 of them. I chose ABS over PVC for 2 reasons.
Reason one, take a piece of ABS pipe and a piece of PVC and secure them in a vice. Hit them both with a large hammer. What happens? Well the PVC will cause blindness if you don't have any safety glasses, and the ABS will knock you out if your not wearing a helmet. (same reason I never use PVC in potato cannons)
Reason two, Sunlight causes PVC to become even more brittle. ABS fairs much better in all weather conditions.
Anyway I am also building a 4 pole 12 coil radial flux air core 3 phase alternator out of the same pipe. The main goal is to generate 100w in 10mph-ish wind using ABS as the main material for the Stator and blades. The diameter is 3m (10ft). 10" hub. 20ft tower.
I'm still building them, but I will put up a build log when I finish sometime next week....if the magnets and wire come that fast.