Design & automation of a small-scale towing tank for flow visualization

Although the towing tank is a standard piece of equipment used to investigate fluid phenomena, it primarily exists as custom-built hardware that takes up a significant footprint. The size, cost, and custom-built nature have heretofore inhibited the production of this equipment in the authors' context, an African university. This paper presents a small-scale (1000 mm x 200 mm x 200 mm), low-cost (<$1,000) towing tank made using readily available components and basic digital fabrication tools. Other universities on the continent and beyond can hence create this foundational platform for fluid mechanics-related teaching and research. Leveraging an Arduino microcontroller loaded with the GRBL firmware, G-code is sent from the computer to stepper motors to execute movements in two axes. This allows for automation capabilities, controlled towing speeds, and consistent experimental conditions. Validation tests revealed motion accuracy within 1 %. A glitter-based flow visualization approach to measuring surface phenomena is demonstrated here. Experiments conducted successfully visualized relevant flow characteristics generated by bluff bodies being towed in the tank. As the Reynolds number increased within the operating range, wider wakes and larger, more distinct vortices were generated, as expected. This platform can be replicated widely in institutions that may otherwise forego experimentation in fluid mechanics.