Free Wind Tunnel Program?

[littleport2003]

Hi Guys,

I've always wanted a wind tunnel, I'm not exactly sure why :rolleyes: , but the way that air flows around objects realy fascinates me.
Anyway, a litttle while ago I was planning to build my own, but know I realise that makeing a decent one would be difficult, quite expensive, and probably take up alot of room.
So anyway I just wondered if there are any free programs out there that can do the same thing on a computer? I had a quick google, but didn't realy find anything, so I thought I'd ask here.

thanks,
Matt

[N74463]

Hi Matt,

Here are some sites to look at.

http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/aerosim/applet/vj402.html

http://wright.nasa.gov/airplane/tunnlesson.html

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/aerosim/

Joe

[Neil Stainton]

Check out http://web.mit.edu/drela/Public/web/xfoil/
and http://xflr5.sourceforge.net/xflr5.htm

Neil.

[BMatthews]

It's limited to one sort of airfoil shape but it's an excellent tool for learning how camber and thickness affects an airfoil and to find out just what lift coefficient your wing will be flying at for various airspeeds.

Hints- Set it up for the size of your wing and then play with the airfoil shape, angle of attack and flying speed to get the "lift" to match your model's weight. For example to figure out what your landing speed would be put your angle of attack up to where you have a lift coefficient of around 1 to 1.5 depending on the airfoil and then alter your speed until the lift matches your model weight. That's pretty much your landing speed or minimum cruise speed.

http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/K-12/airplane/foil2.html

Beyond that Profili2 has the Xfoil airfoil predictive software built into it.

But for actual flow dynamics around a shape I don't know if you'll find that easily.

[Ollie]

If you need turbulent air flow around a shape, use a wind tunnel with a smoke generator.

[Ron Bozzonetti]

I have a plan for a 7 x 10 wind tunnel that was designed by Robert Baals, a researcher that worked for NASA. It was designed as a high school science project for his son. According to Mr. Baals, "A basic knowledge in the skills of metal working, woodworking and fiberglass are all that is required." If you are interested in this material I would be glad to send it to you asking that you return the materials after you look them over.

Ron Bozzonetti

[CAFplanekid]

I'm building a wind tunnel with two other students this summer for school, alot of work goes into building one, and alot of money. It would be quite an undertaking to build one for oneself, but if you have the space and funds you could do it.

Here is a pic of me standing in the diffuser. Test section is 12"x18", the maximum speed should be 100+ mph. This school year I will be taking classes where the lab portion is done using this tunnel. I get to build and test the various test sections before school starts, so I'm looking forward to the class! There is going to be a small plaque on it with our names, I'm going to get all the girls haha :D

[Thermalin]

I'm building a wind tunnel with two other students this summer for school, alot of work goes into building one, and alot of money. It would be quite an undertaking to build one for oneself, but if you have the space and funds you could do it.

Here is a pic of me standing in the diffuser. Test section is 12"x18", the maximum speed should be 100+ mph. This school year I will be taking classes where the lab portion is done using this tunnel. I get to build and test the various test sections before school starts, so I'm looking forward to the class! There is going to be a small plaque on it with our names, I'm going to get all the girls haha :D

You may be interested in these guys from UF: maybe they can give you some info on what they are using:
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=696820
Mike