'Quiet' Mach 6 wind tunnel at Purdue helps shape future aircraft

Perdue University Website ^ | 1-5-2006 | Emil Venere

[Paradox]

To help ensure this ultra-clean condition, engineers enlisted the help of an undergraduate student who is a spelunker. The slender student crawled through a 120-foot section of the wind tunnel, wearing a suit like those worn by technicians in clean rooms, and wiped down the inside of the stainless-steel pipe. The pipe is only 18 inches in diameter.

This kid deserves a medal! I get sick just thinking about it!

[ASA Vet]

The slender student crawled through a 120-foot section of the wind tunnel, wearing a suit like those worn by technicians in clean rooms

[YouPosting2Me]

This story 'blows'.

[GreyFriar]

Purdue ping

[Texas Patriot]

I wonder how big the test section is?

[John O]

This story 'blows'.

Actually it sucks

[NorthernTraveler]

Didn't you read the story?

This thing doesn't 'blow'....

it actually 'sucks'!

[aimhigh]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/05/040512044455.htm

Mimicking Humpback Whale Flippers May Improve Airplane Wing Design

DURHAM, N.C. -- Wind tunnel tests of scale-model humpback whale flippers have revealed that the scalloped, bumpy flipper is a more efficient wing design than is currently used by the aeronautics industry on airplanes. The tests show that bump-ridged flippers do not stall as quickly and produce more lift and less drag than comparably sized sleek flippers.

.....

The sleek flipper performance was similar to a typical airplane wing. But the tubercle flipper exhibited nearly 8 percent better lift properties, and withstood stall at a 40 percent steeper wind angle. The team was particularly surprised to discover that the flipper with tubercles produced as much as 32 percent lower drag than the sleek flipper.

see full article

[sionnsar]

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration previously operated a wind tunnel capable of similar performance, but that wind tunnel is not currently in operation.

A long time ago I worked across the street from a superheated helium blowdown tunnel that operated in that range. It exploded one night, throwing extremely hot ceramic "eggs" all over the facility (NASA Ames), setting shrubs afire for blocks around.

[sionnsar]

Geezer Geek ping.

This is a very low-volume ping list (typically days to weeks between pings).
FReepmail sionnsar if you want on or off this list.

[TChris]

A long time ago I worked across the street from a superheated helium blowdown tunnel that operated in that range. It exploded one night, throwing extremely hot ceramic "eggs" all over the facility (NASA Ames), setting shrubs afire for blocks around.

An eggsasperating situation for the engineers, I'm sure.

[null and void]

The tunnel is relatively inexpensive to operate because each "run" is only about eight seconds. First, air is pumped out of a large tank that is connected to one end of the wind tunnel, creating a vacuum inside the tank. Then a valve is opened between the tank and the wind tunnel, sucking a burst of air through the wind tunnel at high velocity.

The exact method the Nazis used to design the V-2...

[phantomworker]

There's also a wind tunnel at the U. Washington where they were "secretly" testing the Sonic Cruiser a while ago.

[Covenantor]

Interesting.

The only wind testing I've been directly involved with had been with high rise building and monumental skylight mock-ups, at much, much lower velocities though...;>)

Nontheless impressive when done with water spray.

And while we spec'd the wind tunnel tests of city area models to establish possible wind loads beyond code requirements, I never go the chance to actuall view the tests...damn!

[nascarnation]

My daughter is a Purdue student.
It is a great university.
I AM AN AMERICAN
http://www.purdue.edu/BANDS/aamb/iamanamericanbg.html

[JoeSixPack1]

Physical mock ups are outstanding. But in today's world any new design patterns that are developed from it will be computerized for profit before the first design is prototyped. New info concerning that pesky wind problem associated with movement is a good thing.

BUT....Being that I gave up flying when I started making aircraft structural components, I've become steadfast in the belief that if you can't "beam" me from here to there, I ain't going!!! :-)

[NicknamedBob]

The problem they're dealing with is only being addressed in the latter two thirds of the air-flow; -- at the wing edges and engine nacelles, and in the aftermath of the engine and control surface operations.

They will not be able to properly construct their laminar flow-through until they learn to prepare the air before the plane's arrival, for its smooth passage.

If we were speaking of a super-high-speed iceboat, the concept would be obvious. "Ah, yes, we need to heat the ice before the cutting runners arrive, in order to achieve the speed we want."

Exactly. For laminar flow at mach-plus speed, the air has to be pre-heated by lasers focusing at variable distances in front of the craft.

To control it properly, a plane-and-engine-specific pattern will have to be imposed sequentially in front of the plane, so that the air is already expecting it, just as a celebrity can (sometimes) pass unhindered through a thronging crowd.

As far as I know, this idea first saw daylight in my published Science Fiction book of 2004.

[RightWhale]

The Russian supersonic torpedo must be doing something like this.

[NicknamedBob]

In water, one would need to either superheat the water ahead, or inject a tight column of compressed gas like a drill bit.