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The possibility of extracting wind power from unique configurations embedded in moving vehicles using microturbine devices has been investigated. In such environments with moving frames or platforms, powered either by humans like bicycles or by chemical reactions like automobiles, the specific power of the air motion is much greater and less intermittent than in stationary wind turbines anchored to the ground in open atmospheric conditions. In a translational frame of reference, the rate of work done by the drag force acting on the wind harnessing device due to the relative motion of air should be taken into account in the overall performance evaluation through an energy balance. A device with a venting tube has been tested that connects a high-pressure stagnating flow region in the front of the vehicle with a low-pressure region at its rear. Our analysis identified two key areas to focus on for potentially significant rewards: (1) vehicles with high energy conversion efficiency, which require a high mass flow rate through the venting duct, and (2) vehicles with low energy conversion efficiency with wakes, which will be globally affected by the introduction of the venting duct device in a manner that reduces their drag so that there is a net gain in power generation.

One of the most fundamental concepts in all of mechanics is the free-body diagram (FBD) and teaching students how to draw the FBD correctly can be a fairly challenging prospect. In order to facilitate and unify the approach to drawing virtually any free-body diagram, the exploded-view method is presented in this paper. In short, the exploded-view approach is a four step process in which all the external forces and moments acting on the system are drawn, the particles and bodies in the system are separated from one another and any support, the knowns and unknowns are identified and the correct free-body diagram is selected for analysis. Three examples involving equilibrium of particles (2D and 3D) and equilibrium of rigid bodies (2D) are presented in the paper along with a comparison between the exploded-view approach and the methods employed by the authors of two different Statics textbooks. The dependability of this approach compared to traditional methods has been assessed based on its implementation in a section of a Statics class and the results are compared to that of a control group for a common Statics final exam and a Statics assessment in the Strength of Materials class in the following semester. Based on the results, there is a discernible improvement in the scores of students who were taught to analyze the FBD's using the exploded-view approach, even though a more comprehensive assessment is needed to study the veracity of this method in the long run.

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