Design and evaluation of different screens in a wind tunnel for flow management

Honeycombs and screens placed within a wind tunnel system contribute to enhancing flow quality. This paper analyses the effects of screens on flow within the wind tunnel system, utilising an axial flow fan as the testing device. The design of various screen samples will be executed, and a graphical simulation of how these screens will function will be performed using the SolidWorks 2022 software. Following this, the designs will be 3D printed for physical testing. The designed screen samples will have varying wire lengths and aperture lengths while maintaining the same mesh extruded thickness and total diameter. Recently, the hexagonal mesh type is more likely to be used for designing screens within a wind tunnel system. In this study, the best-performing screen type is the circular mesh sample 5 with a 5.16% decrease in Reynolds number, followed by hexagonal mesh sample 2 with a 4.96% decrease, and lastly, the square mesh sample 5 with a 4.83% decrease in Reynolds number. The designed screens in this study validated the open literature that improved screens will also reduce turbulence and foster good flow quality, which can be used for testing within a wind tunnel system.