Design and Construction of a cost-efficient Laminar Flow Wind Tunnel for Aerodynamic Testing

The intention of this project is to design and build a cost-efficient laminar flow wind tunnel to test airfoil performance characteristics. While there are cost-efficient wind tunnels available for learning purposes, they are usually only designed to show the visual representation of airflow over the airfoil. This project will create accurate and repeatable measurements of performance characteristics, making it a budget friendly solution for college level research labs. The wind tunnel will be designed using CAD and scientifically tested for laminar and uninterrupted flow. The main measurement of lift/drag will come from load cells with an Arduino microcontroller measuring the amount of force exerted on the airfoil. When placed in the wind tunnel, the load cells situated on the airfoil will sense real- time pressure exerted on it, which can be measured in real-time as a measurement of static pressure deviation. Furthermore, this wind tunnel will serve as an enhancement for analyzing angle of attack relative to airfoil efficiency. Results will be analyzed relative to the angle of attack and flow separation, which are two of the most important factors for accurate airfoil comprehension in the aerospace industry. Index Terms: Aerodynamic testing, Airfoil performance, Arduino-based measurement, Laminar flow wind tunnel, Lift and drag analysis.