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NACA-TM-651 · Wind Tunnel of the Bucharest Polytechnic Institute

NASA (NTRS) · 1931

Open the PDFPublic domain · NASA (NTRS)Technical Reports

Overview

This report describes the Bucharest wind tunnel and presents numerous photographs and diagrams. The wind tunnel is of the closed- circuit type, the return being symmetrical with respect t o the longitudinal axis of the tunnel. Th e tunnel is of the horizontal type with a diameter of 3. 2 m (10.…

Pages
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10

Key points

  • The wind tunnel at the Bucharest Polytechnic Institute is a closed-circuit type designed by Messrs. Călin and Stroescu.
  • It features a circular cross-section at the entrance cone, transitioning to an annular shape in the return passage.
  • The tunnel has a diameter of 3.2 m at the entrance and 1.5 m at the test chamber, which is 2 m long.
  • An electric motor provides 50 hp, achieving speeds of 41.7 m/s with only 32 hp, indicating high efficiency.
  • Honeycombs are installed in the tunnel to maintain parallel airflow and reduce turbulence.
Frequently asked questions
What type of wind tunnel is described in the document?

The document describes a closed-circuit wind tunnel designed for the Bucharest Polytechnic Institute.

What is the diameter of the wind tunnel at its entrance?

The diameter of the wind tunnel at the entrance is 3.2 m (10.5 ft).

How is the airflow managed in the wind tunnel?

Honeycombs are installed in the tunnel to keep the airflow parallel and reduce turbulence.

What power does the motor of the wind tunnel provide?

The motor develops 50 hp and can achieve speeds of 41.7 m/s with only 32 hp.

What is the length of the test chamber in the wind tunnel?

The test chamber is 2 m (6.56 ft) long.

Document

Source of Acquisition NASA Wa shington, D. C.

TECHNICAL MEUORANDUliS HAllONAL ADVl SOrtY OO:I1i.,IITTEE FOR ]I.EROKAUTlOS No . 651 OF TgE BUCHAREST POLY~ECH~lC l~STITUTE W as :li ng ton Dece r:lb er , 1931 I~ATI O NAL ADYISORY COMMIT'.VEE FOR AliJR O :i. I TAUTICS TECHNICAL MEMORANDUM N O. 65 1 WINJ) TUFNEL OF THE J3UCnAJ{EST POLYTECHNI C IHST ITUTE* The new wi nd tunne l of t h e Bu c ha rest Po l ytechnic I nsti - tute , d esi g ne d by Mes s rs. C ~ r & fo l i and stroesco , is of t he c l o sed - c ircu i t t yp e , the retllrn being sym r.1G tric c:, l with re- spect t o the lon g i tud i n a l axis of the tu nn el . Th e tun ~ el is of t i.l e horizonta l tY 'p e (fi g s . 1 , 2 , 3 c.. nd 4) , with a d i ame t e r of 3 . 2 m (10 . 5-ft.) a t the b e g i nn i ng o f t ~e en- t r an c e c 0 ::' 1 e ( 3 ) , an d 1 . 5 m ( 4 • 92 ft .) at t h e en t r an c e t 0 t ~1 e t es t C 11. amb e r (4 ). Th e I at t e r , 2 m ( 6 • 56 ft . ) Ion g , m ay be eith e r of t h e op en - jet type (shown in p icture) or enclo s ed in a c y l indrica l housin g as shown by the dotte d 1 ine s i n ?i g ure I cm d in secti on in Figure 3 .

The tunnel section is c i rcular from the en tr a nce cone to t~e p ro p eller an d ann ular in the return passage . A honeyc o mb is mount e d in the beg i nni ng of th e en tr ance c o ne .

T he c ross sectio n of t~le exit cone ( 5 ), wrlic:C is circ'.ll L'. r t hr o ughou t its len g th , increases f ro m 1 . 5 n ( 4 . 92 ft . ) to 2 . 5 ill ( 8 . 2 ft . ) at the p ro p eller . At t h is po int t~e sec - tion bec o me s annular and the circuit n ako s a be nd of 1 80° , the return bein g pe r fe ctly sy m8 etric a l wit h respect to the tun n el axis . Honeycombs a re installed in the ann ulus (7 and 8) to keep the current pa r al lel. T he cr o ss section o f th e annu lar retur n p a ssaGe increases g ra dua lly f ro m t~e be~d t o the entrance co ne . T he variati on in areas is shown i n Fi g ure 5 .

T~8 tu nn el is h o used in a bu il ding wn lcn has , e x ter- n a ll y , t h e uhap e of all octa .g on a l p rism . (}) ' i r; s . 6 , 7 and 8.) I n si d e there is a c y lin d er of 5 . 72 m (1 8 . 77 ft . ) ma x - imu m (lia m ster . T he return circuit is 10c8.te d between t J.-,j. s c y lin d er a nd the outsi d e wa lls of the t unn el .

Access to the test cil am ber (1 3 ) is had thro ugh tl e r e - turn passag e, in t he form of a st re a~ li ned p assa g e . (1i R s .

9 and 10 . ) In order to p revent t h is obst ac le from disturb - i ng the retu r n f low , the tunnel section was wi d e ned at tbis p oi nt . H enc e , the section of t h e re tu rn p assa g e g_adually i ncreases t oward the entrance c o n G, althou gh its symmetry i s distu rb e d by t~1.e test ch a n, tJe r .

*Data received f ro m Paris O ffi ce.

N. A. e . A. Te c~n ica l Memorandum No . 651 T he fact t ha t an obstac l e , a l thou gh str e am li ned , is p l aced in the retu r n fl o w, 'f ou l d or r linarily le ad t o sepa - r at ion of t h e flow behind the obst ac l e , which , in the pre~ ent c as e , i s of symmet ri c a l biconvex section. This di ff i- cu l ty is obv i ated by suckin g o f f t~c f lo w beh in d the ob - st ac le . (F i g . 4 .)

The me th o d by which this resu l t is achieved is one of th e outstand i n g features of the tu~ne l. It g re a t l y re - duces tho turbu l ence and increase s the eff i ciency of t he t unne l . The su c ti o n is p r o du c ed aut o matica ll y by connect - i ng t he b urb l in g area with t h e l ow- pressure region at t~e po in t of max i mum a ir- f lo w voloc i ty in tho entrance cone .

T nc c onnection is est a blished by an annu l a r meta l collec - t or (1 6 ) a round the junction with the ex i t cone a nd a sys - tem of p ip e s ( 1 8) which lead through the test chamber to slots in t~e re'r of t h e b i convex o b stacl e ( 20 ).

In ad dition to the a bove - ment i oned ad v an t age s , t h is s ystem a ls o i mp ro ves the flow i n t: l e test chambe r , inc-s - L lUC r. as t21 e p ower f u l jet of air which ente rs the circa12. r o peni~G ( 1 5 ) carries off t h e air la ye r in the imme d i ato n e i g n~ orhood of the wa ll (boun da ry l ayer) . T his ~es~~ts i n un i l orm vel o c i ty a l on g the diameter of t~e teR~ c~am ber and thr o ughou t its l ength .

Po w er is s up~9 1i ed by an electric mot or (9) ( f i g . 1) d e velop ing 50 hp at 14 60 r . l) . m. T ile ;J ro pe1 l o r ( 6 ) is mounted d irectly on the m otor sh Bf t, t~e who l e be i ng c ar - ried by a ca n ti l ever meta l framew o rk (1 7) su ~p or ted by a concrete structure which is entir el y in d ep en d ent o f the body of tile tunne 1 (12) .

A speed of 41 . 7 m/s ( 1 36 . 8 ft . /s ec.) has be en re a c hed with only 32 hp , which corres p on d s to t he e xt re hl ely good

eff i ci ency fa cto r P = 3 . 35 . At s pee ds of less than 30

m/s ( 98 . 4 ft . /sec . ) , the tunne l has p r o ved very s a ti s f act o - ry as to uni f ormit y of fl ow in the test c hambe r. Prel Lli - nary tests at h i ghe r v e locities a re b ein G made .

The b a l anc e now in us e is of t he standard wire ty p o .

Th e tunne l p r ope r is built of wo od and p l ywood , cov- ered with waterproof tabric .

Tra ns lation by W . L. K op orind~ , Nationa l Advisory Co mu i tte e for A eron au tics .

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School Wind Tunnel with enclosed experiment chamber .

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~-2 _ 5 m -; i' : Length of different port io n s of circuit on median line b;j 1-'- ()'q Fig. 5 Vari a tion in cross-s e ction of tUllnel t hrou g hout closed circuit. ~~el of the Bucharest

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Po1ytec~~ic Sch ool.

CJl _ .. .. --~ Figs. 7,8 N.A.C.A. Technical Memorandum No. 651 • Fig. 8 Outside view of tunnel (Exit cone end and motor cabin) Figs. 9,10 N.A.C.A. Technical Memorandum No. 651 Fig. 10 Test charaber. Open jet arrangement. Mo

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Document details

Doc number
·
NACA-TM-651
Publisher
·
NASA (NTRS)
Year
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1931
Pages
·
10
File size
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4.7 MB