A Design and Construction of a Wind Tunnel for Engineering Laboratories

Abstract

The propose of this research is to demonstrate a design and construction of a wind tunnel for engineering laboratories in order to study the principles and control wind speeds in the wind tunnel. In an experiment in aerodynamics and engineering, we found that diffuser must have a length equal to or more than twice the length of the test in order to prevent the turbulent flow in the test area. The wind speed control system uses Inverter to control a 3-phase frequency of electricity supplied to air blower. In the experiment, the frequency was adjusted in the range from 20.00 to 50.00 Hz. Experiment results show that wind speeds during the test area are in the range of 14.50 to 38.50 meters per second, and the relationship between frequency (Y) and wind speed (X) during the test is linear as follows: Y = (0.7945 × (X-20)) + 14.629. The maximum pressure is 90.31 kilograms per square meter. This wind tunnel can be used to design buildings with a maximum height of 20 meters according to the Bangkok Metropolis Building Control (2001).