I have not had alot of time lately to play, but here is what I finished up this morning. I have all the material cut for the tail, however I have yet to weld it on. Maybe tomorrow I will do that. I have kinda built this turbine backwards from how I usually do things. The alternator is complete. All I have to do now is finish the 16' diameter prop. This one will be a monster. :-)
Here you can see the front of the assembly. I used 3" pipe for the vertical yaw tube. It is relatively thick wall, and is alot stronger than the original volvo strut towers we used in the beginning. The horizontal support for the volvo spindle is replaced as well, with a thicker, heavier pipe as to allow it to hold the alternator and in turn the prop. The alternator itself weighs in at close to 100 lbs. and the force a 16' prop will have to endure is substantial, so i wanted to make sure I built for strength.
Here is a shot from the rear of the assembly. You can see how I did the tail pivot and the stator support brackets. I might want to close off the end of the horizontal support tube to keep the rain out so I wont have any problems with rusting and water collection inside the tube. Ill do that later. I was concerned with overall weight and I chopped off all parts of the spindle assembly that werent necessary.
This is how I made the notch in the tail pivot. This prevents the tail from hyper-extending in either direction. It allows the tail to sit perpendicular to the blades in normal operation and when furled, it keeps the tail from swinging into the prop. If reinforcement needs to be done, it can be easily done to the back of the pivot later on, by simply welding more material behind it.
The pivot and the hinge is made entirely from stainless steel. It was a solid rod before I bored it out and cut the angle notch. The wall is slightly over 3/8" thick and I feel this should withstand all the abuse it is given. I might drill and install a grease fitting later, but as it stands, I dont see the need to grease it more than once. It will never rust and bind up. It is very strong. The tail on this machine will be 8' long.
Cant wait to get the prop finished and start on the tower (probably 70' tilt up). :-)
When the whole project is complete, I will repost with all pictures and performance data.
RoyR
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