Subsonic wind tunnel

design methodology

By
ANIRUDH B
11MN01

What is a wind tunnel?

Wind tunnels are measurement tools to study gas flows around
a body and the forces generated by the gas-body interaction

Mostly air is used in wind tunnels

Using such tool it is possible to measure global and local flow
velocities, as well as pressure and temperature around the body

Components of a wind tunnel

Bell mouth section/Nozzle

Fine screen mesh

Components of a wind tunnel

Test chamber

Diffuser section with a

Suction fan located at
The left of the diffuser

Wind tunnel Design

Closed circuit wind tunnel

Wind tunnel Design

Test Chamber: Dimensions, shape and air velocity

Wind tunnel Design

Test Chamber: Dimensions, shape and air velocity

* Wind tunnel dimensions are directly related to the test

chamber cross section

In this case, a square cross section of 0.5m and air velocity of
30m/s is used.
Hydraulic diameter, is calculated.
Test chamber length should be 0.5 to 3 times the hydraulic
diameter.
In this case, the test chamber length is taken as 2 times
Chamfer the sharp edges to 45 deg in order to avoid the air
velocity reduction and increase in boundary layer thickness.

Wind tunnel Design

Nozzle: Area ratio

Wind tunnel Design

Nozzle: Area ratio

* Nozzle area ratio should be between 6-10 to avoid pressure

losses through the screens mounted between the settling
chamber and the nozzle
In this case, area ratio of 7 is chosen.
Nozzles silhouette is defined by Bell-Mehtas polynomial
equation

Where, and y=h and

L is the total axial nozzle length and h is half the cross-section
side-length

Wind tunnel Design

Nozzle: Area ratio

* To determine the Bell-Metha polynomials, the following

boundary conditions are imposed.

Wind tunnel Design

Nozzle: Area ratio

Experimentally it was evident

that causes the air flow to
detach at the nozzle exit and
increases the boundary layer
thickness.
Therefore, the ratio was set to
0.91 and the nozzle length of
1.3m was obtained.

Wind tunnel Design

Second Diffuser

Wind tunnel Design

Second Diffuser: Inlet cross sectional area

* Inlet cross sectional area is governed by the fan dimensions

Ratio between fan cross sectional area and test section cross
section area should lie between 2 to 3.

If the ratio goes beyond 3 then irregular flow velocities may be

generated and if it goes lesser than 2 the wind tunnel
dimensions become larger.
In this case the ratio is chosen as 2.

Wind tunnel Design

Second Diffuser: Inlet cross sectional area

* Air velocity at the fan outlet can be calculated by

Air flow at the fan outlet yields 15m/s.
From the area ratios, we can find the fan cross section
diameter and in this case it is found to be 0.8m
Now the inlet and outlet cross section of the diffuser is known.

Wind tunnel Design

Second Diffuser: Inlet cross sectional area

* Equivalent cone expansion angle can be determined by

Where, is the inlet sections hydraulic diameter
As per the design rule of subsonic diffusers the total included
angle for constant area ratio, length should not exceed 6 deg.
Therefore to keep the length of the diffuser to be minimum, 3
deg was chosen and the above eq. can be solved for minimum
length of the diffuser (6.58m in this case)

Wind tunnel Design

Shape adapter: Length

Shape adapter is also designed and its total Length equals 0.3m

Wind tunnel Design

First Diffuser: side l of the outlet CS area

* side l of the outlet CS area can be calculated by

l is found to be 0.71m for this case study with the max. cone
angle of 4 deg the length of the frst diffuser can be found by
the same eq. used for the second diffuser.
length of the first is found to be 3.32m

Wind tunnel Design

First Diffuser: side l of the outlet CS area

Wind tunnel Design

First Diffuser: side l of the outlet CS area

* side l of the outlet CS area can be calculated by

l is found to be 0.71m for this case study with the max. cone
angle of 4 deg the length of the frst diffuser can be found by
the same eq. used for the second diffuser.
length of the first is found to be 3.32m

Wind tunnel Design

Corners: small corners and large corners

* Corners are equipped with blades or bent flat plates to

minimise the turbulence in four corners
Chord value is determined by

Where, 0.25 is the vane gap-chord ratio and is the vane gap and
given by the equation,
Where 25 is the no. of bent flat plates ( acc. To design rule)

Wind tunnel Design

Corners: small corners and large corners

* Minimum bent flat plate radius is given

by,

Where, is the central angle

subtended by the chord

Wind tunnel Design

Settling chamber

Settling chamber consists of honeycombs and mesh screen to

reduce the flow turbulence before it enters the nozzle.

Wind tunnel Design

Settling chamber: honeycomb
Key design factors are:
1) Length
2) Hydraulic diameter
3) porosity

Wind tunnel Design

Settling chamber: honeycomb
Porosity is given by,
is the flow CS area and is the total CS area
Criteria's to be verified in honeycomb design is,

Where is given by,

Wind tunnel Design

Settling chamber: honeycomb
solidity is given by,
is the sheet CS area and is the total CS area

Wind tunnel Design

Settling chamber: honeycomb
Where,

Metal sheet divisions,

No. of divisions height wise,
No. of divisions width wise,

Wind tunnel Design

Settling chamber: screens
To have effective reducing in
turbulence the porosity must
lie between 0.58 to 0.8
Different mesh qualities
(coarse, medium, f ine)
are efficient than single fine
mesh

Wind tunnel Design

Pressure losses
1) Pressure loss in constant cross section area sections (friction)
2) Pressure loss in diffusers (friction and expansion)
3) Pressure loss in corners (friction and expansion)
4)Pressure loss in screens(porosity or its complement solidity, the Reynolds number
Calculated with wire diameter, and mesh factor)
5) Pressure loss in honeycombs (length to cell hydraulic diameter ratio,
porosity and Reynolds number)
6) Pressure loss in nozzles (skin friction)

Wind tunnel Design

Fan selection

Summary
The design procedure consists of the following main steps:
1. Defining the test section dimensions and desired flow velocity by test type;
2. Wind tunnel component design by test section criteria;
3. Wind tunnel component pressure loss calculation;
4. Determining pressure loss throughout the wind tunnel circuit as a function
of the possible flow velocity in the testing section in both open and closed
configurations;
5. Matching wind tunnel components to commercial fans, and energy
considerations.

References:
1)Justin D Periera, Wind tunnels-Aerodynamics, models and experiments,
Nova science publishers
2) Metha R. D., Bradshaw P. Design Rules for Small Low Speed Wind Tunnels
Journal of Royal Aeronautical Society 1979, Vol. 73.
3)Wind tunnel design and wind tunnel parts-NASA