| Abstract |
The goal of this project is to design a fully functional water tunnel facility that can be used to examine the laminar-to-turbulent transitional period. The water tunnel must have fully laminar flow at the inlet of the test section, and will flow down the 1.5-meter length, eventually transitioning to turbulent flow. The test section is constructed utilizing a design made from almost entirely transparent acrylic that allows for full visibility. This is useful for flow visualization and examining fluid-structure interactions at any point along the length of the tunnel. This facility design was built with the design and manufacturing of the test section component as the focus, and the team moved outwards from there. The team designed inlet and outlet contractions, diffusers, honeycomb flow straighteners, and more to ensure the proper flow input for the fluid dynamics studies this facility is intended to be used for. The low-speed water tunnel facility is a complex system, and each component has a crucial role in the desired result. |
