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Forum Index : Windmills : Quad Stator- "BEAST" - KABOOM!!!
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fillm Guru  Joined: 10/02/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 730 |
Hi All , Here's some photos of the aftermath of the blow I had here today , 65 klm and I finally found where my weak link is ... 
I was watching the piclog watts hiting 1000w and the rpm at 500+ when it came down 
These ABS blades are tough , 3 were about 80mtrs into the bush , one snaped at the root but all except one broke at the hub spigot. Even the annemometer was totaled and ended up hanging on the fence 
One thing I now have complete faith in is the F&P bearing and shaft and my bearing holder , with all the force that would have been exerted as the blades desintergreted there was no damage to the bearing housing , and the shaft has 0 run out . #2 is now on the to do list ASAP , I'm so looking forward to twisting another 164 poles x 2 . One thing I've learnt is when it has been raining for a week ,check the guy rope anchors and also make sure that two cun take the load from the regular storm wind as you can see I only had one on the S/W side . I had been worried about the top section of the pole flexing in the strong blows and on #2 I have the wires down through the piviot pole so I can put upper guys on , to late for this one !! 
#2 on the way , still can't work out how to resize pic's and keep the quality OK , sorry if they are a bit small , fuzzy and darkish .... Phill... PhillM ...Oz Wind Engineering..Wind Turbine Kits 500W - 5000W ~ F&P Dual Kits ~ GOE222Blades- Voltage Control Parts ------- Tower kits |
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Tinker Guru Joined: 07/11/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1904 |
A sad story Phill but good to read that you see there is a lesson to be learned from all that disaster. With regard to mast guy ropes, let me tell you my experience in the hope you get some additional ideas. I had a rather large amateur antenna (3 band cubical quad, full size) in my back yard some years ago. Built it all myself, including the steel lattice mast section. I knew it would be a big wind load in a blow so I made the mast 4 sided instead of the usual triangular sections. The thing was 12m tall and had upper guy ropes from the 4 corners as well as another set halfway down the mast. Both sets terminated at a star picket set in concrete (3 x 20litre oil tins, bottom & top knocked out and buried down to 1.5m as a vertical tube, filled with concrete. Bullet proof I thought this would be and it held up to a few gales, no worries. Until one day a thunderstorm came over, I watched from the garage's shelter as a big wind gust hit and downed a tree on my property. Unfortunately it fell onto the one guy rope that was directly upwind and broke the upper rope. I watched as the mast buckled just above the mid level and all above came down as if in slow motion. The antenna was severely damaged, the upper mast section twisted like a pretzel but the lower still supported section survived upright. So, look for all possibilities when you rebuild that mast, if it was mine I would make it a lot stiffer than what is visible on your third picture. Klaus Klaus |
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GWatPE Senior Member  Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
Hi Phill, What a mess! I bet you are glad these were only std rotors and not the Neo ones you had planned. Was there any smoke when it went to its maker. You will have a new one up in no time. Gordon. become more energy aware |
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| KiwiJohn Guru Joined: 01/12/2005 Location: New ZealandPosts: 691 |
Fillm, you have my sympathy, such good work lying in a crumpled pile. 
However, I have been working on a short 'paper', just a few lines really, to post concerning the stresses on a windmill turbine, the sort of thing that can lead to your disaster. Is there anything to indicate one blade failed first and everything else followed? The pictures show blades with damage indicating having hit something, the guys maybe? Was there one blade which might have been some distance away broken off but not showing any damage to the leading edge? Just my theory.  |
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| brucedownunder2 Guru Joined: 14/09/2005 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1548 |
Hi Phill, sorry for your damage,, . must have given you a sick feeling,hope you are ok now. I lowered mine when I saw that huge black storm coming from your area. We , Ilda and I , have found we can lower our 60 foot rig in around 4 minutes . I can help you clean up or whatever, Bruce Bushboy |
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| KiwiJohn Guru Joined: 01/12/2005 Location: New ZealandPosts: 691 |
My 'paper' 
http://www.thebackshed.com/Windmill/FORUM1/forum_posts.asp?T ID=1413&PN=1&TPN=1 |
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| fillm Guru Joined: 10/02/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 730 |
Hi , Yea I suppose I'm a little sad but as Gordon said I will have it repaired and back up in no time , but I will be getting down to my last motors by the time I get two up and flying , that will be another story.. I agree Tinker you can build something as bullet proof against every thing you can think of but it is the unexpected that jumps out and hits you , like a tree falling on a guy rope . Kiwi John , the failure was 100% due to the star picket pulling out of the wet ground and also not being in deep enough , also the one anchor point was taking the total load from the S/W . I would assume as the first two blades stopped as they hit the ground the top blades snaped and shot off into the bush , there was no faiure on the mill from overspeed , excessive yaw or unbalance . I now know the weak point and when it goes back up additional guy ropes and better anchor points will fix that , and allow the furling to start at 45 - 50klm wind force as I believe you shold not have to take a windmill down to protect it from damage ... PhillM ...Oz Wind Engineering..Wind Turbine Kits 500W - 5000W ~ F&P Dual Kits ~ GOE222Blades- Voltage Control Parts ------- Tower kits |
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robbo Regular Member  Joined: 25/03/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 71 |
Wow, Phil, My Condolences, what a mess ! Looking forward to the next one. Any new Ideas, or just a quick copy to get it up and going again? Mother nature rules! I think I'll go and check my anchors now. "the Earth was not given to us, by our fathers, rather, it is lent to us by our children". |
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oztules Guru Joined: 26/07/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1686 |
Eeeeek Village idiot...or... just another hack out of his depth |
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dazler Newbie  Joined: 21/10/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 37 |
sad to see it down. but happy to see #2 on its way. and to see how u made it, is there a nut joining the two shafts together? darren |
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Gizmo Admin Group  Joined: 05/06/2004 Location: AustraliaPosts: 5118 |
Oh no! Bugger! It sure got bent up. I've had a tower fall over. A few days of wet weather and then a storm blew it over, pulled the guy wire anchor right out of the ground, cement block and all. That tower had 3 guy wires, my current tower has 8 guy wires with 4 anchors, much bigger blocks burried underground. Glenn The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago, the second best time is right now. JAQ |
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| KiwiJohn Guru Joined: 01/12/2005 Location: New ZealandPosts: 691 |
Phill, you wrote "I would assume as the first two blades stopped as they hit the ground the top blades snaped and shot off into the bush" Hmmm, you have me intrigued! So one blade did fly off into the bush? Did you actually see the tower fall with all three blades still on it? Just thinking here, in the pursuit of knowledge you understand!
Some people could tell if that blade that flew into the bush broke away from impact or from fatigue, not saying that it did but if it was my experience I would be looking at all avenues. If one blade did come off the frantic vibrations on the mill would pretty soon cause something to fail and bring it all down, your star post for example. Now thats another funny thing, that star post did not bend which I think it would have been in a sideways pull even if the ground was a soft as Grannies custard, almost like a frantic whipping guy wire wiggled it out of the ground! |
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| GWatPE Senior Member Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
Hi kiwijohn, I think phill was quite clear with his explanation. The mill came down with all 6 blades still intact. When the mill hit the ground, this is when the blades broke off. Gordon. become more energy aware |
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| KiwiJohn Guru Joined: 01/12/2005 Location: New ZealandPosts: 691 |
Hokay, my reading skills aint what they used to be as I didnt pick up there were 6 blades. What I did notice though is that one blade failed in a manner different to the others, more that, well thats me done for on this topic!  |
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| GWatPE Senior Member Joined: 01/09/2006 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2127 |
No worries kiwijohn, your comments are always welcomed and spark discussions. Gordon. become more energy aware |
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| Robb Senior Member Joined: 01/08/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 221 |
I'd be thinking that 2 meters of 2 inch heavy wall gall pipe under the ground would be more like it for a machine that big. |
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| fillm Guru Joined: 10/02/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 730 |
Hi John, I have snaped of a few more pic's of the blades and hub as I have not dismantled it as yet , the blade that failed , [if you want to call it a failure when they go down at 500RPM + into the ground] , I suspect was on the top when they abruptly stopped . The star picket that pulled out was the only one that I could not drive in deep as it hit rock , I was always goinng to drive one in behind it and tie them together to share the load , Big Mistake .. 
Heres the re-build , to allow upper guy ropes to be fitted to the pole I am now going to rectify at the head , and can run DC down through the hole bored in the stub axle , I have also beefed up the tail mount. 
PhillM ...Oz Wind Engineering..Wind Turbine Kits 500W - 5000W ~ F&P Dual Kits ~ GOE222Blades- Voltage Control Parts ------- Tower kits |
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martinjsto Senior Member Joined: 09/10/2007 Location: AustraliaPosts: 149 |
sorry to see the failure of #1, but its from these that better things emerge. good luck with #2 martin free power for all McAlinden WA |
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