Reference no: EM132582045
MENG 210 - Statics Assignment - University of San Diego, USA
Project - Flying Forces
Currently 2 out of 3 people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to electricity. Adding electricity to a community will save people from house fires caused by candle light, add medical infrastructure to help fight sickness and disease, improve access to education, power water filtration systems, and provide many other benefits. One method of bringing power to remote locations is through the use of disperse wind power systems. A hot air balloon wind turbine by Altaeros Energies could be installed in a remote community and provide the electricity to meet some or all of the community requirements.
To anchor the turbine in this community, you and your team need to design two different plans for a cable system that holds the turbine in a given spot shown on the map with a star. (Assume the star's location on the ground is the origin, and each square is 10 m. Do not use anchor points between the grid (i.e., must be in increments of 10 m).) The balloon will provide a force of Fb = {-100i + 200j + 1000k}N based on lift and wind. Three cables will be used to hold the balloon in place (equilibrium). The cables can support a maximum tension of 2000 N. The maximum balloon altitude is 600 meters. Also, determine the payback time (in years) for each plan so the community can decide if they should purchase the turbine. Provide your recommendation between your two designs in a letter to the village mayor (fill-in template below).
Balloon Cost = $175,000
Cable Cost = $125/meter
Power generation revenue = $5/day/meter of altitude (the higher the balloon, the more wind)
Payback time = total cost of materials (cables + balloon) + construction cost of locations/power generation revenue
Submit -
1. Summary letter of recommendation (see fill-in template attached)
2. Your final calculations neatly summarized and stapled to the back of the letter (handwritten OK) including:
a. A free body diagram of the balloon for each design, with all labels and information shown
b. Cable calculations for each design option, including position vectors, unit vectors, force vectors, and sum of forces.
c. Show that each balloon design is in equilibrium and meets all constraints
d. Complete the table in your letter of recommendation.
Attachment:- Statics Assignment File.rar