Design of an open large wind tunnel for wind turbine testing

Abstract

Wind tunnels are used in aerodynamic studies on the effect of air moving across the test specimen mounted in the middle of the tunnel. They are structurally constructed by large tubes filled with air travelling along the passage path of the tunnel. In this Final Year Project, a large open test section wind tunnel is designed and a prototype is manufactured.

The scope of this project includes designing of the wind tunnel and conducting tests to determine the stability of the air flow at the open test section.

This study assessed the stability of the air flow by using visualization method and measurement of wind velocity at both the inlet and outlet of the open test section. The differences of the wind velocity at both the inlet and outlet were found out to vary greatly and the air flows captured by the flow visualization are not uniform. A blower fan was then installed into the wind tunnel and the wind velocity ranges improved slightly. A third experiment was done without the axial fan and the wind velocity ranges had significantly improved. The air flow captured by the flow visualization was almost uniform throughout the open test section.