Author Topic: Wind tunnel on campus?  (Read 3788 times)

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Offline Sal Atticum

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Wind tunnel on campus?
« on: October 08, 2009, 04:49:29 PM »
I'm trying to talk to the right people, but there are so many departments that might use such a thing.

I'm looking for a small-scale wind tunnel at UND or somewhere in Grand Forks that we could use for some geology (geomorphology) experiments for a class.  We'd like to blow some sand around an object and be able to measure certain aspects, and apparently it's not "wind-tunnely" to just set up a box fan because you don't get reproducible laminar flow.

If anyone has any ideas, drop me a PM or post here.
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Offline Plantains

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Re: Wind tunnel on campus?
« Reply #1 on: October 08, 2009, 06:37:59 PM »
You could easily make a wind tunnel with normal laminar flow.

What exactly are you trying to test? wind tunnels are typically designed to test aerodynamic properties by testing drag of airfoils etc. so laminar flow is critical because if the tunnel creates drag you won't get an accurate measurement. If you wanted to see how sand blew around, a wind table is what you need.
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Offline Sal Atticum

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Re: Wind tunnel on campus?
« Reply #2 on: October 08, 2009, 06:47:34 PM »
We're trying to mimic the setup in a paper; they said they used a wind tunnel so I figured we needed to use one too.

I've never heard of a wind table--is that like air hockey?  http://www.flickr.com/photos/dubster/3474778695/

Why have no not commented on my cycling wind tunnel thread if this is so easy? :D
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Offline Plantains

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Re: Wind tunnel on campus?
« Reply #3 on: October 08, 2009, 07:07:35 PM »
no it would be a source of wind blowing across a table. and it would be as simple as hooking up a fan to the end of a table
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Offline Sal Atticum

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Re: Wind tunnel on campus?
« Reply #4 on: October 27, 2009, 04:57:42 PM »
We ended up using a hair dryer, which isn't as scientific as I would like, but getting anything done when it's a seminar class with five people is like . . . something difficult.
JUST EXTRA POLISH. I DO SOME WORK WITH EXCELL SO I KEEP THE CAPS LOCK ON :-P

Offline Plantains

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Re: Wind tunnel on campus?
« Reply #5 on: October 28, 2009, 09:10:14 AM »
ooooo.... how many speeds?
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Offline Sal Atticum

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Re: Wind tunnel on campus?
« Reply #6 on: October 28, 2009, 09:52:07 AM »
Two.

That's right.
JUST EXTRA POLISH. I DO SOME WORK WITH EXCELL SO I KEEP THE CAPS LOCK ON :-P

Offline Plantains

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Re: Wind tunnel on campus?
« Reply #7 on: October 28, 2009, 07:17:11 PM »
Bosssssssssssssssssss
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