Design, Fabrication and Performance Evaluation of Low Speed Open Jet Wind Tunnel for Free Flight Testing

Abstract

With the development of in the field of aerodynamics, a test model of aircraft, UAVs, MAVs and other flying and moving vehicles needs to go under rigorous test in wind tunnel for stability, lift, drag and other aerodynamics parameters. Despite of development of CFD for flow simulation over a body, experimental setup with proper flow conditions is necessary for carrying out actual aerodynamics test. The study presents conceptual design, numerical simulation and experimental setup of low speed open jet wind tunnel of blower type having test section of 1.5 m wide and 0.8 m high. The tunnel was designed to produce 12m/s. However, the wind tunnel only produced 7.5 m/s of open wind at outlet where the test object can be placed. The flow field evaluation showed the turbulence intensity of --\% and mean flow uniformity lies mostly below --\%. The simulation carried out with pressure inlet as boundary condition comparatively matches with the result obtained experimentally. The development of such open jet wind tunnel can be useful for simulation of flights.