Development of novel low-speed open jet wind tunnel equipped with plenum chamber for testing of aero-rotors

Conventional blower-type open-circuit open-jet wind tunnels use a blower, wide-angle diffuser, settling chamber, screens, honeycomb, contracting nozzle, test section, and exit diffuser to develop a uniform, plug shaped velocity profile, inside the test-section. In the current study, a hypothetical d...

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Main Authors: Ath S. Singhal, R.N. Patel, S.V. Jain
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-03-01
Series:Results in Engineering
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259012302400166X
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author Ath S. Singhal
R.N. Patel
S.V. Jain
author_facet Ath S. Singhal
R.N. Patel
S.V. Jain
author_sort Ath S. Singhal
collection DOAJ
description Conventional blower-type open-circuit open-jet wind tunnels use a blower, wide-angle diffuser, settling chamber, screens, honeycomb, contracting nozzle, test section, and exit diffuser to develop a uniform, plug shaped velocity profile, inside the test-section. In the current study, a hypothetical design of a low-cost and simple wind tunnel has been proposed to produce similar flow characteristics but by using fewer components viz. blower, inlet duct, plenum chamber, test section, and collector, which is the novelty of the current design. The basis of the hypothesis is to obtain fully developed flow at the exit of the duct, produce moving belt-type lid-driven cavity flow inside the plenum chamber, create a low-speed movable membrane at the boundary of the main jet, and cessation of free jet expansion to a significant amount inside test section. The new design is validated through numerical and experimental results as well as mathematical modelling. The values of the ratio of standard deviation and average of normalized velocity are found in the range of 10−2 for a 50% blockage cross-section. Curve fitting of velocity values with plug profile equation showed a close resemblance. Experiments are performed on Savonius rotor inside the modified tunnel and compared with classic results obtained with a conventional tunnel. The RMS error between both results is contained in the range of 10−1 to 10−2. All validations proved the aptness of the new innovative tunnel for low-speed testing. The presented wind tunnel design is the first of its kind and generates the flow with the desired characteristics.
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spelling doaj.art-20c3be005bc241d48eaede2e1d614ac72024-03-24T07:01:09ZengElsevierResults in Engineering2590-12302024-03-0121101913Development of novel low-speed open jet wind tunnel equipped with plenum chamber for testing of aero-rotorsAth S. Singhal0R.N. Patel1S.V. Jain2Mechanical Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Institute of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, 382481, Gujarat, IndiaMechanical Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Institute of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, 382481, Gujarat, IndiaCorresponding author.; Mechanical Engineering Department, School of Engineering, Institute of Technology, Nirma University, Ahmedabad, 382481, Gujarat, IndiaConventional blower-type open-circuit open-jet wind tunnels use a blower, wide-angle diffuser, settling chamber, screens, honeycomb, contracting nozzle, test section, and exit diffuser to develop a uniform, plug shaped velocity profile, inside the test-section. In the current study, a hypothetical design of a low-cost and simple wind tunnel has been proposed to produce similar flow characteristics but by using fewer components viz. blower, inlet duct, plenum chamber, test section, and collector, which is the novelty of the current design. The basis of the hypothesis is to obtain fully developed flow at the exit of the duct, produce moving belt-type lid-driven cavity flow inside the plenum chamber, create a low-speed movable membrane at the boundary of the main jet, and cessation of free jet expansion to a significant amount inside test section. The new design is validated through numerical and experimental results as well as mathematical modelling. The values of the ratio of standard deviation and average of normalized velocity are found in the range of 10−2 for a 50% blockage cross-section. Curve fitting of velocity values with plug profile equation showed a close resemblance. Experiments are performed on Savonius rotor inside the modified tunnel and compared with classic results obtained with a conventional tunnel. The RMS error between both results is contained in the range of 10−1 to 10−2. All validations proved the aptness of the new innovative tunnel for low-speed testing. The presented wind tunnel design is the first of its kind and generates the flow with the desired characteristics.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259012302400166XBlower type wind tunnelPlenumPlug profileOpen jetSavonius
spellingShingle Ath S. Singhal
R.N. Patel
S.V. Jain
Development of novel low-speed open jet wind tunnel equipped with plenum chamber for testing of aero-rotors
Results in Engineering
Blower type wind tunnel
Plenum
Plug profile
Open jet
Savonius
title Development of novel low-speed open jet wind tunnel equipped with plenum chamber for testing of aero-rotors
title_full Development of novel low-speed open jet wind tunnel equipped with plenum chamber for testing of aero-rotors
title_fullStr Development of novel low-speed open jet wind tunnel equipped with plenum chamber for testing of aero-rotors
title_full_unstemmed Development of novel low-speed open jet wind tunnel equipped with plenum chamber for testing of aero-rotors
title_short Development of novel low-speed open jet wind tunnel equipped with plenum chamber for testing of aero-rotors
title_sort development of novel low speed open jet wind tunnel equipped with plenum chamber for testing of aero rotors
topic Blower type wind tunnel
Plenum
Plug profile
Open jet
Savonius
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S259012302400166X
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AT rnpatel developmentofnovellowspeedopenjetwindtunnelequippedwithplenumchamberfortestingofaerorotors
AT svjain developmentofnovellowspeedopenjetwindtunnelequippedwithplenumchamberfortestingofaerorotors