Sub Sonic Open Loop Wind Tunnel

 

A subsonic wind tunnel was constructed for testing.  It was a four section open circuit with a rectangular testing cross section (34.1 cm x 37.465 cm).  The four main parts were a testing chamber, settling chamber, contraction zone and fan.

 

The fan was 60.95 cm in diameter and had a 1 hp electric motor wired through a rheostat to a 120 volt AC power supply.  The fan rested in an octagonal cross section of the intake of the contraction zone. 

 

The contraction zone transitioned from an octagonal to a rectangular cross section and was made based on results from Bell and Mehta’s fifth-order polynomial.

 

It attaches to the two element settling chamber (50.8cm x 38.1 cm x 37.465 cm).  The two elements are a honeycomb followed by a screen.  The honeycomb ensures laminar airflow while the screen ensures even distribution of air velocity.

 

The next part of the wind tunnel is the testing chamber (91.44cm x 38.1 cm x 37.465 cm).  It was capable of being reconfigured to test thrust/drag or lift/down force using separate test fixtures.