I want to build a miniature wind tunnel

"TheHondaBro" (wwaveform) 01/18/2017 at 14:42 • Filed to: None

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Because I want to get my masters in aerospace, designing and building a miniature wind tunnel from scratch would look amazing on a college application.

This means about a year doing various fluid dynamics calculations, electrical circuitry (controlling motor RPM with a potentiometer and having a device feed me wind speed inside the testing chamber), and of course, laminar flow.

I have access to a no-membershit-required Makers Space with a composites lab, CNC machines, 3D printers, and a lot more (It’s at my current school).

And most importantly, I have a 240v outlet in my garage.

0pihl > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 14:45

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I make one like the Wright Brothers. Very simple.

atrombs > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 14:46

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I’m a little jealous of your access to a maker space without a membership. There’s a few near me, but from what I can tell they all require you to be a member. Not to great for a casual tinkerer like myself.

E90M3 > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 14:47

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This is all I saw when I read your post.

TheHondaBro > atrombs 01/18/2017 at 14:47

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Basically they charge you based on the equipment you use and how long you use it.

TheHondaBro > E90M3 01/18/2017 at 14:48

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Ooh fun!

The Lurktastic Opponaught > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 14:50

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Get familiar with Arduino, then build yourself a simple hot wire anemometer for velocity measurement and you can use that data for speed measurement and feedback to a motor controller.

E90M3 > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 14:51

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For my transport II class, heat and mass transfer, my prof made us memorize a bunch of dimensionless numbers and then made part of the test straight from memory, it was one of the hardest classes I had.

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 14:52

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There is a guy who is well known in the cycling community who built his own, here is an article

http://www.tririg.com/docs/CogganLSWT.pdf

Azrek > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 14:52

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All I could think of was getting one of those big square fans and attaching a refrigerator cardboard box to it...then see if it scares the shit out of my cat.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 14:54

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https://wright.nasa.gov/airplane/tunnel.html

CaptDale - is secretly British > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 14:57

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I want to put cars in a wind tunnel with aftermarket aero kits and see if they actually do good.

unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 14:59

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I don’t even want to think about going back to school after I graduate. Another few semesters after graduating bachelor. NOPE.

UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy > E90M3 01/18/2017 at 15:00

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E90, where did you go to school? Since we are both ChemE’s, it shouldn’t be surprising but my professor did the same thing for Transport I and II, which is why I also instinctively thought of the Reynolds number when I saw this post.

TheHondaBro > unclevanos (Ovaltine Jenkins) 01/18/2017 at 15:02

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Eh, bachelors degrees are decreasing in value.

Bman76 (hates WS6 hoods, is on his phone and has 4 burners now) > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 15:02

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You should look into fluid tunnels with dye, they may be more practical.

E90M3 > UnderSTeerEnthusiast - Triumph Fanboy 01/18/2017 at 15:02

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The happiest place on earth, aka Georgia Tech.

rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 15:05

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Hey I have an MAE, but it was three careers ago back in the hoary old days - 1993.

I ended up doing something totally different, but I’d advise concentrating on getting through college before you think about graduate work. That said I do think this would look cool on an application especially if it could be tied to some kind of event like a high school science fair.

What schools are you looking at?

TheHondaBro > rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S 01/18/2017 at 15:10

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After I finish my ME bachelor’s degree, hopefully at UW, I’m looking at applying to Embry Riddle’s aerospace engineering graduate program.

rb1971 ARGQF+CayenneTurbo+E9+328GTS+R90S > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 15:15

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ER is a good school. I got my BAE and MAE from Georgia Tech. I don’t know much about the aerospace industry’s hiring needs right now, but a lot of the reason I don’t do that anymore is that I graduated right into the middle of a recession and a slowdown in defense spending. Regardless, an engineering degree teaches a great manner of process-based thinking and is a worthwhile pursuit.

Berang > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 15:17

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So are all degrees.

TheHondaBro > Berang 01/18/2017 at 15:18

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70 degrees feels like 40 degrees now.

Berang > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 15:30

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70 is really more like 21.

The Lurktastic Opponaught > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 16:05

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Depends on the degree. The most valuable ones (earning potential balanced with career flexibility) don’t teach you what to think, they teach you how to think. Knowing how to solve problems is the easy part. Knowing which question deserves to be asked next is exceptionally challenging.

uofime-2 > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 16:26

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If you just want to do flow viz type stuff you’re better off using water as your working fluid, you can use a lot lower velocities to achieve the same flow types.

Keep things simple, don’t go hog wild with expensive tech, you’re trying to demonstrate you understand concepts. Instead of buying an anemometer use a pitot tube and a manometer.

Frankly you’d probably impress them just as much ditching the wind tunnel and pressure tapping a naca foil and measuring the distribution across different aoa and v with it attached to the roof of your car

So Shiney. So Chrome! So Frunky > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 16:30

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.ERAU does have it’s own wind tunnel but like many things getting to use it was problematic unless your advisor ran it. My roomate started doing composite work in our garage just to prove to the lab instructor he deserved a better grade. It ended up helping get him a job after college so good luck with your wind tunnel. Smart man only trying to do you Masters there (my wife and I have 3 Embry-Riddle engineering degrees between us and i’m going to be in debt forever).

DC3 LS, will be perpetually replacing cars until the end of time > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 17:21

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Use a MAP sensor from a Civic, for something, for maximum hp and Oppo.

f86sabre > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 19:59

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I do know about aerospace hiring practices. The big question I have is why do you want a masters in AE? Do you plan on doing research or advanced development? As far as getting into the industry it isn’t really required. Riddle has a solid program. We hire a good bit from there. They get that you have to combine theoretical with practical experience. It can’t just be idealized lab work.

I built a high schooler’s version of the Wright Bros tunnel for me senior project. The look on the teachers face when I wheeled that huge thing into the room was awesome.

TheHondaBro > f86sabre 01/18/2017 at 20:03

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Yeah I want to get into the aerospace industry. I’d love to get into R&D for one of the big aerospace firms. Boeing is all around me here in the PNW. There’s also Blue Origin, SpaceX, Lockheed-Martin. I have a feeling the aerospace industry is going to blow up once a private firm lands a rocket on a Mars.

If that fails, I’d still have an advanced engineering degree.

f86sabre > TheHondaBro 01/18/2017 at 20:14

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I agree, it is a great industry, but I would caution you a masters in engineering is only valuable in certain parts of it. Depending on what you want to do an MBA might be a better value long term paired with your undergrad in engineering. That said, follow your dreams and do what you enjoy.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > TheHondaBro 01/19/2017 at 00:04

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Turbulent Flow

atrombs > TheHondaBro 01/19/2017 at 07:17

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That’s a much better system. I would think they would get a lot more users if they all did it that way. I suppose the real serious makers that want a subscription service wouldn’t want all of the “casuals” like myself hogging machines.