Robert Murray-Smith’s YouTube channel recently presented a concept for improving Savonius rotors using 3D printing technology. The focus is on the development of a special differential gearbox to increase the efficiency of these simple wind turbines.
Savonius rotors are popular due to their uncomplicated design, but have weaknesses in terms of efficiency. Murray-Smith explains the problem in his video: when the rotor turns 90 degrees, it loses drive power as the edge points into the wind. Previous solutions, such as adding additional rotor blades or arranging them in a spiral shape, only brought limited improvements.
The new approach involves placing two Savonius rotors next to each other and combining their forces using a differential gearbox. Murray-Smith demonstrates this using a 3D-printed model of a planetary gearbox. This system makes it possible to combine the mechanical inputs of both rotors into a single output, which can then drive a generator.
The 3D model presented serves as a prototype to illustrate the concept. It consists of a sun gear, planetary gears and a ring gear, with all components mounted on rotating bearings. In his video, Murray-Smith shows how the rotation of the input shafts in the same or opposite direction influences the output torque.
The YouTuber makes the STL files for the 3D model available on the Thingiverse platform. Interested parties can recreate and further develop the concept themselves.
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