Science fair wind tunnel project 1

My daughter Britney and I built this mini wind tunnel, or "airfoil demonstrator," as we call it, for her science fair project, "Bernoulli vs. Newton." The premise of her project was to demonstrate that the creation of lift is more complicated than simply stating that "airplane wings generate lift due to the Bernoulli principle." Isaac Newton must also be recognized as an equal (or possibly greater) influence on this subject as well. The airflow was generated by a salvaged, speed 300 ducted fan unit from my old Alfa,Ta-183 RC jet. We built a classic "Clark Y" airfoil and a symmetrical airfoil, to demonstrate that both wing shapes will create significant lift, once the angle of attack is increased to it's optimal angle.

[@JohnDRobinsonelectronicdrums]

a great experiment by Britney! very well done

[@flyinhawaiian5848]

Thank you John! It was a great learning experience for her, and a lot of fun for me!

[@JohnDRobinsonelectronicdrums]

you're welcome my friend! :)

[@yassiralmubaied6075]

?How calculate the scale of wind on the small body to study it on the original body

[@martinpattison8916]

Here, the fan is upstream of the aerofoil. Is there a reason for this? I would have arranged it so that the fan would be downstream of the wing. This way I would expect there to be less swirl in the air when it reaches the wing.

[@flyinhawaiian5848]

Drawing air into the test section by placing a fan unit downstream of the airfoil, and a smoke generator upstream, would have been optimal to demonstrate what happens to airflow in explaining Bernoulli's Principle. However, my daughter wanted to present with a visual representation, that deflecting the airflow against the lower surface of the section by increasing angle of attack, exerts an equal force in the opposite direction, irregardless of the section's contour, to demonstrate the importance of Newton's 3rd law in the overall generation of lift. Thanks for the comment Martin!

[@bmx7596]

I am doing an experiment that involves simply increasing the maximum speed from entry to exit of the tunnel. Do you know of a starting design? I know the tunnel should get smaller for compression I'm assuming. My dimensions are 14centimeters(starting point) by 2 meters in length.

[@flyinhawaiian5848]

The contraction section we chose for this project was solely based on accommodating the diameter of the fan unit we had available, and utilizing a larger diameter inlet section, that met those same diameter requirements at the exit end. Consequently, no entry/exit, or length ratio calculations were performed for optimal flow. The term "wind tunnel," is used very loosely in the title of our video...."Airfoil demonstrator" would have been more appropriate. "Optimum Design of Wind Tunnel Contractions," by M.N. Mikhail, and "Wind Tunnel Contraction Design," by Jonathan H. Watmuff, are two excellent reference sources on this subject. Hope this helps, and good luck on your project!

[@kteddyrusmaya3045]

Robert Theflyinhawaiian can you share how to make this project?

[@flyinhawaiian5848]

Without going into too much detail, the base is constructed of 3/16" thick plywood. The clear sides are acrylic sheets, and the inlet section is a 5" PVC pipe reducer necked down to 3", to fit the ducted fan unit. Salvaged electronics from old radio control airplanes were utilized to provide the airflow and actuation. The airfoil sections were constructed using balsa wood, plastic tubing for the spars, graphite rods for the torque tubes, and Monokote heat shrink covering. The basic construction was accomplished using wood glue, cyanoacrylate (super glue) and small screws. There are many tutorial videos on RUclips describing the construction of simple, model wind tunnel projects, that don't require the use of radio control components. Good luck with your project!

[@dibyaprasetyowardani912]

i try to make wind tunnel but i've problem with balancing airfoil..can you share with me how to make airfoil balance..tks

[@flyinhawaiian5848]

The aerodynamic center of the airfoil is generally around 25% of the chord, measured from the leading edge. Lateral balance can be achieved by adding weight to the light side of the airfoil section, when balanced at mid-span. I used small washers to counterbalance the servomechanism on the right hand side of the airfoil.

[@dibyaprasetyowardani912]

my airfoil can fly..but the problem is just one side can fly...and the other can't..can you help me for solve that problem?

[@bhgffgig2392]

Hi where did you buy this fan?

[@flyinhawaiian5848]

It was the fan unit that came with the Alfa Ta-183 Huckbein, which I purchased online several years ago from Hobby Lobby.