I like to write scientific software with Visual Basic.
Many people seem interested in wind blades, so I have written a
VB soft which computes the coordinates of a wind blade then produces the Gcode needed to cut one such blade in foam.
I have atached the soft (blade) a sample shape (bladfrm) a profile (bladrib) and a picture.
You have to decide of the shape of the blade. The leading edge is straight. This is file "badefrm.txt"; 4 digits y, 2 spaces, 4 or more digits x , integers only, 250 lines maximum. The computer assumes that it goes straight between two coordinates. Then when running this software, you will choose the length of the blade and its maximum width. This allows you to have a different scale on the y and the x axis when designing then entering the shape of the blade. The length of the blade is 1000 maximum.
The rib profile chosen will be imported from Profili (unneeded comments may be deleted) and saved under the name of "bladrib.txt". You may create your own profile. First number goes from 0 to 100, second is thickness over zero for each point, then again 0 to 100 and thickness below zero. To identify the numbers, the program looks for the dots. So each number must be decimal (5 decimals long for the first one) and a few spaces should be between the two. The file has to be less than a total of 250 coordinates long.
Then you have to choose the tread of your blade and you may decide that the profile will get thinner as it goes far from the hub. Give a name to this blade for you to find it later among others.
The first command computes the coordinates of all the points on the blade and save them in a .txt file under "bladf" plus the name of the blade. The second command uses this file to produce the Gcodes and save then in “.txt” files. The third command is to quit the software.
Finally, you can decide of the machining step for your blade. Suppose you wish to first get a rough cut with a large bit, you will pick 9mm and be a bit over the wanted profile then for finishing you may choose a small diameter bit and chose a 1mm step. This software produces 3 Gcode files. First 3 digits "bla" then "M" for mould and "C" for core then "b" for bottom and "h" for high or top, then the name of the blade and finally the Gcode step. You have to add the specifics for your CNC router and this job.
To machine your blade out of foam, first cut the top mould and the top core. Then cut the excess foam of the core and place it in the top mould, then cut the bottom core. You may wish to have a look at
http://www.rcsoaringdigest.com/pdfs/...SD-2006-09.pdf page 32 and follows, you may also have a look at
http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=49319.
Good luck! Let me know about your wind turbine.
03-20-2008, 03:54 PM
Similar Threads 
Linear Mode
