Design and fabrication of a boundary layer plate to be used in wind tunnel

• Main Author: Chia, Alvin Wen Jie.
• Other Authors: School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/50348
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The work is concerned with the design of a boundary layer flat plate to be used in the wind tunnel of Nanyang Technological University Aerospace laboratory. This work aims to design a flat plate which enables height adjustment, trailing edge flap angle adjustment, and the tapping of static pressure. The design process begins with the study of previous work followed by generation of conceptual designs, to the selections and finally the final design. The final design of the flat plate has a general dimension of 2000mm x 766mm x 12mm. There are four main components of the flat plate; a leading edge with asymmetry of 7/24, a pressure tapping plate with six pressure taps at each side, a glass body and an adjustable trailing edge flap. The length of the leading edge is 5% of the chord length, and it is connected to the left and right pressure tapping plates. The plates have six pressure taps each, with a spacing of approximately 300mm apart. The pressure taps are brass rods with diameter of 5mm. The trailing edge, which has a length of 10% chord length, is connected to the pressure tapping plates with two M6 bolts. These bolts serve as the axis of rotation as well as the locking mechanism. The structure which enables the height adjustment is an integrated system, which consists of screw jacks and bevel gearboxes. This system is manually driven and is mounted underneath the test section of the wind tunnel to maximize the space within the test section.