Wind tunnel testing

like a ninja

I am wondering is there is wind tunnel test sites in ireland for something which is a about 1m high as i would to like to find how the wind effects it ( maybe someone would have experience from aerodynamic tests on cars) . The reason for this is a college final year project which I am doing and the college wind tunnel is too small for the model.
any ideas most welcome.Thanks

Matt Simis

Ive wondering this too, for various things I looked into. One of the tips I picked up was the "wool string" test as an alternative. It may sound getto, but its arguably more representative of realworld dynamics as it occurs in the "wild", not an artificial environment.. which is where you actually drive a car.

Basically you get lots of pieces of 10cm long wool, tape to car, run car on road while recording (from other vehicles ideally) with a high def and high FPS camera, then analyze the results. The aero drag, vortexes and high pressure areas are readily visible on the footage. Changes can be made to subject vehicle and tests repeated to observe result.

This approach was used until recently by small to medium car makers (and perhaps still is) in conjunction with simulations and wind tunnels.


PS: What is this "object" anyhow? You posted in the motors forum, but I suspect its not a land based vehicle?

like a ninja

thats an interesting idea,but i dont think it would suit my application which is crane structure. I am mainly looking to see if there is any wind tunnel test locations around ireland.

Atlantic Dawn

I'm thinking one of the large colleges like UCD, DCU or Trinity would have a wind tunnell.

biko

Not car related but since wind tunnels are often used in the automotive industry..

You could also put your crane on a covered trailer (open back/front) and tow it after a car and simulate it that way?
This of course if you cannot find a proper wind tunnel.

You'll need cameras, wind speed measurements etc