Standing at 55m tall, the wind turbine, dubbed Northwind 100 has façades which are unmatched in shape and form.
Its elongated triangular-pyramid mast coils upwards in a twisting motion, architecturally expressing the rotational dynamics of the turbine and tapering at the top.
The distinctive complex geometry form was designed to comprise of around 200 perforated aluminium panels upon its internal steel framework and it was soon ascertained that each individual panel making up an elevation would be unique in shape and size, making it more demanding in composition.
Proficiency in complex geometry design solutions was therefore required. Wintech were approached by KME to provide a solution for the designing and the positioning of panels on the turbine mast using a KME installation system.
Wintech created a bespoke piece of software to model the perforated façade construction and automate the production of the manufacturing information for each of the individual façade panels and ancillary components.
This process of automating the production of 3D complex geometry façades and the detailed manufacture information was developed by Wintech working with Staffordshire University on a two-year KTP research programme.
In essence, rather than using a general purpose piece 3D design software, a bespoke design programme is created specifically tailored to the particular project.
Wintech are currently working on several significantly larger projects where thousands of unique components are being designed using this automation technology. Significant benefits include a greatly reduced design programme and enormous reductions in design costs.
Ultimately, Wintech anticipate that the software output may be directly linked to CNC manufacturing processes avoiding the need for any interpretation of design information.