Applied Physics – Rotational Motion

Wind Turbine Applications

Acciona AW-1500 Wind Turbine

1. The Acciona AW-82/1500 Wind Turbine manufactured in West Branch,

Iowa, have a drive train gearbox ratio of 1:78 (for instance, 780 teeth on
driver gear, 10 teeth on driven gear) when operating at 60 hz. If the driver
gear operates at 16.7 rpm, what is the speed of the driven gear in rpm?

2. The Acciona AW-77/1500 Wind Turbine manufactured in West Branch,

Iowa, have a drive train gearbox ratio of 1:78 (for instance, 780 teeth on
driver gear, 10 teeth on driven gear) when operating at 60 hz. If the driven
gear operates at 1440 rpm, what is the speed of the driver gear in rpm?

3. The Acciona AW-70/1500 Wind Turbine manufactured in West Branch,

Iowa, have a drive train gearbox ratio of 1:71 (for instance, 710 teeth on
driver gear, 10 teeth on driven gear) when operating at 60 hz. If the driver
gear operates at 20.20 rpm, what is the speed of the driven gear in rpm?

4. The yaw gear ratio on the Acciona AW-1500 Wind Turbine is 1:1451. If the
driven gear operates at 0.08 rpm, what is the driver gear speed in rpm?

5. The Acciona AW-70/1500 Wind Turbine manufactured in West Branch,

Iowa operates at 20.2 rpm. Express this value in angular velocity 
(rad/sec).

6. What would be the linear velocity in (m/sec) of a piece of ice flung off the
tip of a blade of the Acciona AW-70/1500 Wind Turbine when rotating at
20.2 rpm? The maximum blade length for this turbine is 34 meters.

7. Convert the answer to number 6 to mph. (1610 m = 1 mile)

8. What would be the linear velocity in (m/sec) of a piece of ice flung off the
middle of a blade of the Acciona AW-70/1500 Wind Turbine when rotating
at 20.2 rpm? The maximum blade length for this turbine is 34 meters.

9. What is the centripetal force of an Acciona AW-70/1500 Wind Turbine

blade which is 34 meters long and has a mass of 5,160kg. (note: use r/2 =
17 meters for the radius in your calculation so that the mass can be treated
as a point mass)?
Answers:

1. 1,302 rpm
2. 18.46 rpm
3. 1,434 rpm
4. 116 rpm
5. 2.11 rad/sec
6. 72 m/sec
7. 160.8 mph
8. 35.86 m/sec
9. 3.91x105 N

Data Sheets:

• http://www.clipperwind.com/pdf/liberty_brochure.pdf

• http://www.acciona-na.com/The-Big-Picture/Air---Wind/Wind-
Power/AW1500.aspx