Today was an exciting day. I continued to work on my airplane models, attended a meeting, explored another aerodynamics experimental lab, and saw a wind tunnel. The meeting was conducted to update a project’s members on each individuals status. The experimental group found some patterns in oscillations and experimented with utilizing different formulas to create a more accurate and representational model of the theorized. The computational group made changes to the code to allow for a 50% decrease in computational time.
In the aerodynamics experimental lab that I visited, there was a mini wind tunnel, artificial muscles, and more. I thought that the artificial muscle was pretty cool. It contracted by having air pushed through the surgical tubing. This artificial muscle was combined with a skeleton to give it the ability to throw an object.
Lastly, I got a small tour of the large wind tunnel at NC State. The wind tunnel and giant pressurized air tanks were adjacent to EB3. This circular wind tunnel sped up the air by releasing pressurized air into the tunnel and turning on a fan to continuously blow the air to sustain its speed. Because of the circular design of this wind tunnel, the air stays at the relative speed it was sped up too, decreasing the amount of energy needed to sustain it. It is easier to keep air moving than to speed up air from normal room conditions. Inside the tunnel, there are numerous screens streamline the air in the same direction. While each individual part of this equipment seems confusing, it is easy to understand when put together. A picture of the NCSU wind tunnel years ago is below.
