Have you ever wondered why wind turbines have 3 blades? Or why do some wind turbines have 2 blades?

It is the result of a number of engineering design tradeoffs. Find out how wind turbine design engineers trade off structural design, materials, manufacturing, transport, installation, balance, stability and control considerations to discover why they usually choose 3 blades and under what circumstances engineers might choose a different number of blades.

I published a written version of this topic on Medium:
https://rosemary-barnes.medium.com/why-do-wind-turbines-usually-have-3-blades-f7f95d714869

More wind energy videos:
Wind turbine design evolution https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJTcVEAojqw&t=293s
Wind turbine aerodynamics: pitch vs stall regulation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5T5ZhJQr2o&t=26s

Find more videos on renewable energy engineering technologies and aerospace/ mechanical engineering on my channel, along with topics such as sustainability, the circular economy and environmental engineering.

Big thanks for permission to use photos and footage from Envision Energy, LM Wind Power and Paul Gipe and Nancy Nies.

Paul Gipe is author of the book: "Wind Energy for the Rest of Us" (link below) and www.wind-works.org

For wind energy theory I recommend Burton's "Wind Energy Handbook."
Available to buy from Amazon (affiliate link), or your university library probably has it!
https://amzn.to/32Pb1fh

#technology #engineering #stem
Thanks for watching the video "Why Do Wind Turbines (usually) Have 3 Blades?"

Engineering with Rosie animated intro is by www.video-gestaltung.de

Wind Energy for the Rest of Us (2016)
http://www.wind-works.org/cms/index.php?id=619