3D Printed Windmill Tower

Basics

• It is useful to do in-situ 3D printing of 250 kW Windmill Towers with metal 3D printing using WAAM.
  • Possibly with a sort of combination of the WAAM/D3D Metal Printer and a Hangprinter (Possibly using 3 or more construction cranes arranged in a polygon with each verticy being a crane)

Cost of a 200' Tower, 4' Diameter, 1/4" Wall Thickness

• Metal 3D printing - with MIG welders, 250 amp each at 30V
• Welding wire - $68 for 44 lb - [1]
• Alibaba shows down to 50 cents per lb - [2]. ($900-1500/ton)
• 12' length of diameter. 12 SF per foot of height. 6" build per hour. 400 hours for tower, or just 17 days. Could possibly increase to 12 welders, at 8 days for the tower.
• This tower is 24000 lb - 120 lb/ft
• It would be useful to make wire for reduced cost. If produced from scrap, tower could cost not $12k at Alibaba costs, but much less.

Use of Delta 3D Printers and/or Hangprinters in the Printi ng of VAWT Towers/Blades

• The shape stability and speed of deltas all lend themself to printing VAWT turbines
• Hangprinters may be less stable, but otherwise work

See Also

• Wind Turbine
• VAWT
• Hangprinter
• D3D Metal Printer
• WAAM
• Open Source Delta 3D Printer