Making a Wind Tunnel.

[NathanOlder]

Hi guys, im wondering if anyone can help me.
Me and a few guys at work are looking at making some small model cars 1/20 approx in size, and we would like to put them into a mini wind tunnel to see how various aero body parts change the flow of air in and around the cars.

We have extractor systems to draw the air through a perspex chamber so we can see whats happening, we are just wondering if their is any easy was to make the air flow visible.
We are also open to any ideas at all that will be easier to make this work. Is it important to blow the air through rather than draw the air, also does the chamber itself need to be a specific shape ?

Hope someone can help,

Nathan.

[bhall]

http://makeprojects.com/Project/Model+W ... OL8dnfCYqQ

[WhiteBlue]

For visibility they use smoke in the real tunnels. So you can probably use an oil lamp with a chimney that leads into a tube to collect the smoke.

[NathanOlder]

Ah, excellent idea, thanks

[flynfrog]

A leaf blower makes a pretty good fan you will need to condition the flow a stack of drinking straws will help reduce turbulence. Remember you only want the cross section of your item to be about 10% of the cross section of the tunnel. The shape really doesn't matter if you have a large enough cross sectional area.

[thisisatest]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?client=mv-go ... =mfca6b1y7

[NathanOlder]

http://m.youtube.com/watch?client=mv-go ... =mfca6b1y7

Awsome! Thanks so much, these are great! I will have to upload some pics of my build.

[NathanOlder]

Just a quick update. I have been busy building a 1/10th wind tunnel for my 1/10th RC cars. Mainly just to see out of curiosity to see how much downforce different car shells produce. Also I am now thinking about building some single seater bodies to test and evaluate. I have plenty of photo's of the build so far that i will upload today. As far as finishing the project, I am a few days from finishing. especially as I may be stuck at home with the snow. Thank heaven for my space heater in the garage!!

[Sombrero]

As a child, Yoshi Suzuka, father of the dominant Nissan GTPs, daydreamed about airplanes, rockets and trains.
Lately Suzuka made a miniature toy windtunnel, but turned out more than a just a toy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpMOpyLbjcA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1IIMFOFpjU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww29IAN6neM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpzRPfd9XkM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYmsFAGXn-A

More about Yoshi Suzuka : http://www.mulsannescorner.com/nissanp35story.html

[NathanOlder]

[NathanOlder]

Just the tunnel to go on now and its pretty much done. Testing will begin tomorrow 21st Jan.










I'd say the whole project has cost me £70-£80, would have been a little more, but I had some motors and propellers laying around as I fly RC planes.

[hollus]

Love your flow straightener!
Wouldn't bigger (in diameter) straws work better, though? And maybe further away from the propellers?

[NathanOlder]

Hi, thanks for the comment. Since these pics I have moved the propellers back about 120mm. As for the straws, I have no idea. There's no real guides how to make a wind tunnel, so its a little bit trial and error. Maybe a mod for the future.

[NathanOlder]

Pretty much complete.

[hollus]

I thought you were going to leave the test section open? As it is the car blocks almost half of the cross section, leaving the air nowhere to go.
Cool effort, looking forward to some results.