Wind Tunnels and Aerodynamic Studies

This course covers the comprehensive understanding of wind tunnels and their application in aerodynamic studies. It starts with the basic concept and types of wind tunnels, explaining how they are used to control the flow conditions around an aircraft model or any other object of interest. The course then delves into the design basics of subsonic wind tunnels, focusing on the closed circuit low speed wind tunnel. It further discusses the internal design issues related to subsonic wind tunnels and introduces supersonic wind tunnels. The course provides a detailed understanding of supersonic wind tunnels, focusing on the intermittent blow-down type tunnel and its components. It also covers the estimation of ideal power required to run a continuous closed circuit supersonic wind tunnel and the concept of dimensional analysis. Finally, the course discusses the different types of similarity in scaling internal models in aerodynamics and the safety issues in handling wind tunnels.