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Day 8 – Anechoic Chamber, Wind Tunnels, and Good Byes

Today was a bitterly sweet day. To start off the day, I visited the supersonic and subsonic wind tunnels, the anechoic chamber, and the test cell. Supersonic wind tunnels can produce wind speeds that are faster than the speed of sound. Subsonic wind tunnels produce wind speeds that are less than the speed of sound. While in the subsonic wind tunnel room, the professor allowed me to stand inside while the wind tunnel was going at its maximum speed. Also inside the room were some jet engines that could spit fire and an actual airplane wing. Next, moving onto the supersonic wind tunnel. Supersonic wind tunnels can produce wind speeds that are faster than the speed of sound. The way NC State’s supersonic wind tunnel worked was by using bursts of compressed air aimed through a narrowing chamber. This supersonic wind tunnel could only run for about six seconds at a time.

Next, I was led to an anechoic chamber. This three-doored room had numerous triangle pieces of foam lining the room. Standing inside, it was so quiet that I could hear my heartbeat. Below is a picture of an anechoic chamber, similar to the one I visited today.

Next, I was led to a test cell. These are rooms where jet engines can be tested. They are extremely fireproof and have a great ventilation system.

At the end of the day, at a group meeting, I gave my presentation on OpenVSP and what I had learned over the last two weeks. I have attached my presentation below. We then continued to try and learn GitHub.

OpenVSP

This was the end of my amazing work experience and I was extremely sad to say goodbye.

Day 7 – Finalizing My Models and Presentation

I had a specific goal for today: to finalize my models and presentation. As soon as I got on campus, I headed for the top floor of the library. There, I concentrated the final changes of my airplane models as to make them even better. It was often hard for me to find the exact values for certain variables. After completing the models, I gathered information, an actual photo, a blueprint, and a screenshot for both aircrafts and created a PowerPoint.

After completing the presentation, I went make into the OpenVSP software in hopes that I could figure out how to run CFD. Unfortunately, the initiation of CFDs continuously crashed my computer. Below, is a CFD of a space shuttle by NASA.

Later in the day, I met a professor who was happy to show me experiments in the wind tunnel tomorrow, which I am really excited for. Lastly, I went on a scavenger hunt for a screwdriver to fix my computer.

Day 6 – Drones

Today was a peacefully productive day. I sat on the terrace of the Hunt library all morning, worked away at my OpenVSP project, read some books, and admired the many birds. I have completed the rough models of my two airplane models: Cessna 210 and Atlantis OV-104. Below is a rough model of the Atlantis OV-104. I will be finalizing the models and creating my presentation tomorrow.

Later in the day, I met up with a Ph.D. student for a quick tour of his drone lab. The lab was filled with a wide variety of drones, ranging from hand-made to professional, from wood and Styrofoam to metal. It was really cool seeing just some of many possible aircraft models all displayed in one room. His research mainly focused on creating an algorithm via Matlab for designing, developing, and testing UAS flight paths. Other students in his lab worked on autonomous drones and creating an unmanned batterie changing station for quadcopters to allow for longer travel distances without increasing batteries size. On a side note, during the tour, I learned that you can “boil” Styrofoam to return it to its original shape after a crash and that a nice way to cut Styrofoam is by using a hot wire.

Day 5 – Top Secret Project

Arriving on centennial campus today, I had no plans aside from completing my airplane models. Last Friday, a mechatronics student suggested that I stop by their lab sometime this week. It just so happened that I ran into him this morning and he was enthusiastic about giving me a tour right then and there.

Walking into their lab, there was a wide variety of aircrafts. It ranged from quadcopters to stick airplanes to rockets. Straight off the bat, I was asked the question, “are you a US citizen?” With the answer being yes, was I totally welcomed into the room. The reason for this question is because of a disclosed project that was US citizens only. The extremely simplified project description is that it is a submergible airplane. It can move around underwater like a submarine and can fly like a normal airplane. If anyone would like to know more, there are one or two videos on YouTube. A picture from one of those videos is below. I am unsure how much I am allowed to share about this project, therefore, I will not be going in depth.

Day 4 – Wind Tunnels

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.

Day 3 – OpenVSP and GitHub

For the full duration of work experience, I was given a task to make two aircraft using a 3D modeling program, Open VSP. I will be making a Cessna 210 and another of my choosing. The picture below shows the beginning stages of by Cessna 210 model. After completing the 3D models, I will be able to run a variety of tests to show the aerodynamics of each. The main challenges that I have found with this program are figuring out how to utilize the different operations, to be able to imagine parts of the 3D object in relation to other parts and to understand some terms. Terms include ellipsoid, tessellation, and CFD mesh.

In the afternoon, I attended a meeting with other Ph.D. students to understand how to use GitHub, which allows for a more reliable and more organized way of storing commits of code. We made several repertoires and experimented with branching, forking, cloning, merging, pulling. We soon discovered that GitHub, similar to other online collaboration programs, still has trouble merging different versions. We will be problem-solving tomorrow to decrease the likelihood of lost work due to this issue.

Day 2 – Biomechanical Adventure, Spreading Happiness, and More Exploration

Walking onto NC State’s Centennial Campus, I was hyped up to gain knowledge from Ph.D. students and walk around campus. After exploring the numerous classrooms, makerspaces, and labs, I had the opportunity to talk to a biomechanical student. She focused on the relationship between musculoskeletal structures and functions of limbs through the use of MRI, strength assessments, functional testing, and computational simulations. One of her research projects involves helping stroke patients regain walking ability through the use of musculoskeletal structures and springs to provide some power to the heel. She is improving the design of the device by gathering data on the range of motion, maximum exertion force, electrical signals, etc.
Afterward, I was once again exploring the library. Finding an electronic whiteboard in the lobby, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to draw a silly face on it. Surprisingly, people started to gather around the board, adding bits and pieces of creativity to my drawing (below). It was so cool seeing how one simple thing can bring so much joy and sense of community to people.

Day 1 – Introduction to Aerodynamics

Arriving on NC State’s Centennial campus, I was warmly greeted by Dr. G and two Ph.D. students. They gave me an introduction to aerodynamics and showed me their current research projects: understanding, formulating, and calculating equations that fully represent the motions and aerodynamics of a bug’s wing during flight.
As an introduction to aerodynamics, I learned about Reynold’s number, leading-edge vortex, CFDs, and more. The Reynold’s number is essential in computing the aerodynamics of an object, accounting for four variables: size, viscosity, velocity, and density. When Reynold’s number stays constant, the aerodynamics of the object stays constant. The leading edge vortex is created when an airfoil is angled in a way that does not allow fluid to pass over it smoothly. Other vortices can form and detach at the tail-end of the airfoil. Below is an image displaying the change in vortices due to the change in airfoil angle. CFDs, also known as computational fluid dynamics, accurately and colorfully shows how fluid would pass over an object.

Figure #1. The Forming of Vortices in Relation to Airfoil Angle.