Hi! I am working on a windmill I have designed. Before building the actual windmill, I would like to test it in some simulation, like blender. As this is my first project in blender, I dont know where to look for suggestions but here.
The wind does not seem to affect the windmill… and I am stunned as to why.
WindMill.blend (946 KB)
Right now I’m at work, so I can’t really check the .blend out, but I’m going to guess that you’re using a single wind physics simulation. The last time I did anything with that, I found that the more vertices I had the more of those icons I had to place. I’m not sure if that applies now, but it did then. Even with a single one maxed out there just wasn’t enough influence. You might try multiples, if this is the problem.
Never mind.
As a reference I made a very simple flagpole that turns with the wind. This works as expected:
FlagPole.blend (550 KB)
To replicate the problem as simple as possible I created a ‘savonius’-type windmill. The same problem I have with my windmill: the wind just does not seem to be calculated into a rotating force for some reason I dont grasp:
Savonius.blend (680 KB)
Am I missing something obvious?
I really believe that you need more force for more verticies. I could be missing the point too though.
Can I ask why you’re using wind and rigid bodies for this? Seems some keyframes and drivers would be vastly simpler.
Because I need prove that ‘wind’ will actually turn my windmill, before I build it with cnc-machines etc.
I have a model turning in blender just fine, as you said using keyframes and turning the mainstrut and gears with formulas, but that does not prove anything. I also looked at ‘real’ simulation software, like SolidWorks, but the prices of those are just insane. So I was hoping to do some very basic ‘proof of concept’ wind simulation… in blender.
Xraygunner
I have tried exploring your suggestion by increasing and decreasing vertex counts, and trying various windforces, including very high ones. None of those made the savonius test windmill turn.
All
Perhaps I should use a lot of very little balls to simulate the effect of the wind on the blades by bumping into them?
That might not be a bad idea, to at least see if something will move it. I will do my best to get a look at your blend file today. Sorry, it’s just bee crazy busy.
Perhaps I should use a lot of very little balls to simulate the effect of the wind on the blades by bumping into them?
I thought about that too. It seems to get things moving in the right direction but not a full rotation.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/26908459/SavoniusDupli2.blend
Blender is not suitable for this kind of Fluid simulations… You can fake it, or even calculate the amount of force hitting each of the mill triangles, subtract friction, convert to torque, etc… but it woun’t be straight forward.
It’s nearly 6 years since the last reply, but I got the same problem and did some experiments.
To simulate the force of airflow on turbines, the force applied on the turbine should be perpendicular to the surface. However, this is not done by blender’s rigidbody physics. We can use cloth simulation and make the cloth extremely sturdy so get this effect. I know this takes more computing power, but this is the only way I know to make it work.
Also, this is not a perfect simulation, since blender doesn’t really simulate the movement of air when it flows through the turbine.
I just registered my account, so I can’t upload the .blend file and the gif. Link below:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hHMZxJaSU5l-DWc74PuKAVxEuzJv2cdQ/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k07q2YV_WZhQisGX2qj-9eyRnak78nGR/view?usp=sharing
