Design and Development of a Turbine Flume Testing Rig

With fossil fuel usage increasing to accommodate expanding electricity consumption around the world, the production of electricity through renewable means has become a viable avenue for expansion. Hydropower represents one of the possible means of producing electricity. Due to the high costs, long construction times, and environmental impacts of damming rivers, private interests have turned their focus to preexisting low head dams that could be powered with the addition of hydropower applications. Although these hydropower applications offer the possibility of commercial success, testing facilities lack the capability to accurately test and easily alter the testing configuration to allow for numerous designs or concepts to be tested. This thesis offers a potential solution to the problem of testing rigs for widespread implementation. Following inspiration both from the engineering design process and product design and development, the problem was identified, design parameters were laid out, and initial sketches were created. Following initial idea generation concept screening and scoring helped to eliminate designs not worth pursuing further. Modeling of the cross functional designs occurred using SolidWorks. Numerous iterations were considered during the 3-Dimensional modeling phase. With a design chosen, optimization of the design began with a focus on reducing labor and costs where possible. Next the components sourcing budgets was outlined. Lastly, machining and assembly instructions were created. With a completed Testing Rig, The Ohio State University will be able to alter parameters for testing, such as the height of the water, the shape and size of the weir, as well as the angling of water flowing into and out of the turbine.No embargoAcademic Major: Mechanical Engineerin