OpenVSP – CA Work Experience Program

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.