DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF SUPERSONIC WIND TUNNEL WITH VARIABLE MACH NUMBER

As there is advancement in aeronautical engineering day by day and with the advent of modern high-speed aircraft, missiles, and rockets there is the Hugh competition among the countries and various organizations. Therefore, for the understanding of high-speed fluid mechanics and to perform the exper

Project Title

DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF SUPERSONIC WIND TUNNEL WITH VARIABLE MACH NUMBER

Project Area of Specialization

Mechanical Engineering

Project Summary

As there is advancement in aeronautical engineering day by day and with the advent of modern high-speed aircraft, missiles, and rockets there is the Hugh competition among the countries and various organizations. Therefore, for the understanding of high-speed fluid mechanics and to perform the experiments, a supersonic wind tunnel is used but due to its high manufacturing and running cost, it is not radially available everywhere. So, this project aims to make one of such supersonic wind tunnels on a smaller scale with the use of the pieces of equipment that are already available and try to minimize the cost as possible as it can be. Before fabrication, a model of supersonic wind tunnel will be designed using the Computer-aided designing software such as Solid works and detailed Analysis will be performed using Flow Simulation Software to verify the design parameters.

Project Objectives

• Designing of Supersonic wind tunnel at low cost to facilitate the students to study the high-speed fluid mechanics.
• Variable Nozzle is designed to Operate Wind Tunnel at different Mach number.
• Increasing the test Duration up to 30 Seconds.

Project Implementation Method

As the main components of the supersonic wind tunnel are convergent-divergent (Laval) Nozzle, Test Section and Diffuser. Therefore, the contour of the CD Nozzle will be designed using the Method of Characteristics (MOC) to avoid shock waves and then the boundary layer correction will be applied to smoothing the flow in the tunnel. The design parameters of the Test Section and Diffuser are then calculated using Isentropic flow relations and Shockwave analysis. The material for the fabrication of these components will be selected based on stress calculation. While the design of the settling chamber will be carried out by using stagnation pressure and temperature. The pressure and temperature of the section test at the various location will be calculated using pressure and temperature sensors while Schlieren Photography will be used to Visualize the Flow.

Benefits of the Project

• The Supersonic Wind Tunnel Will Contribute the University’s Students to Study and Understand the High-speed Fluid Mechanics and Applications of Aerodynamics and Propulsion Technologies.
• It will also contribute to understanding the shock waves generating during high-speed flight.

Technical Details of Final Deliverable

Air Compressor and Air Storage Tank Unit:

The air storage tank is used to store the air derived from the air compressor up to desired pressure, calculated using design parameters. The air compressor and air storage tank will be selected using design conditions and Run time of the wind tunnel.

Nozzle:

The nozzle of the wind tunnel will be of Convergent-Divergent (Laval) nozzle which is used to increase the velocity of air isentropically to the Mach number greater than 1. The nozzle will be consisting of three regions.

1. Convergent, in which air from the storage tank expands. As pressure drops, the velocity of the air increased.
2. Throat, in this region the velocity of air will be equal to sonic velocity and mass flow will be chocked and remains constant throughout the process.
3. Divergent, in which further pressure drop takes place and velocity of air increases beyond sonic condition.

Test Section:

The test section is the component/region of the wind tunnel in which the test specimen is placed, and various types of experiments will be performed on it. The area of the test section is calculated using area Mach relation and the ratio of throat area to test section area. The Test section will be equipped with different types of sensors such as pressure and temperature sensors to provide the necessary data for further study.

Diffuser:

The diffuser of the wind tunnel also plays an important role in tunnel designing. It is designed to reduce the air velocity below the sonic condition to minimize the energy losses and shock wave generation.

Sensors:

Various types of sensors will be used in the tunnel at different locations to measure the pressure, temperature, and air velocity.

Data Acquisition System:

The Data Acquisition system is used to collect all the data from various sensors and then save them to proceed for further calculations and analysis. Various Types of Data Acquisition systems are Available in the market and it will be selected according to the need and budget.

Schlieren Photography:

Schlieren photography is a visual process that is used to photograph the flow of fluids of varying density. We will use this setup for flow visualization throughout the Test.

Final Deliverable of the Project

Hardware System

Core Industry

Education

Other Industries

Core Technology

Others

Other Technologies

Sustainable Development Goals

Quality Education, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

Required Resources

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