FACULTY OF TRANSPORT AND TRAFFIC SCIENCES

Itziar Bueno Tintoré

DESIGN OF A THREE-AXIS WIND TUNNEL FORCE

BALANCE

BACHELOR THESIS

Zagreb, July 2018

 University of Zagreb
FACULTY OF TRANSPORT
AND TRAFFIC SCIENCES
Vukelićeva 4, HR-10000 Zagreb
UNDERGRADUATE STUDY

Undergraduate study: Aeronautics___________________________

Chair: Aeronautical Engineering
Course: Theory of Flight I

UNDERGRADUATE THESIS ASSIGNMENT

Applicant: Itziar Bueno Tintoré

Matriculation number: 0135254109
Study programme: Aeronautics

Assignment title:
Design of a Three-axis Wind Tunnel Force Balance

Assignment title in Croatian:

Projektiranje trokomponentne aerodinamičke vage ______________________

Assignment description:

A force balance is the most often used tool to measure aerodynamic forces and
moments in wind tunnels. The objective of this thesis is to design and build a
force balance for a small low speed wind tunnel AT-1. The force balance should
be able to measure lift, drag and pitching moment in small models. The specific
thesis assignments are:
- design a stable enough model support structure
- make preliminary design of the force balance configuration and electronics
- design the force balance structure
- design the data acquisition and processing with Arduino
- design a force balance calibration system (including an electronic calibration
Arduino program)
- purchasing of materials, mounting and initial testing of the system.

Supervising teacher: Chairperson of undergraduate thesis

committee:

Administrator
1
 FACULTY OF TRANSPORT AND TRAFFIC SCIENCES

Itziar Bueno Tintoré

DESIGN OF A THREE-AXIS WIND TUNNEL FORCE

BALANCE

BACHELOR THESIS

Supervisor: Karolina Krajček Nikolić, PhD

Zagreb, July 2018

Summary: In this thesis, the design of a force balance for a small low-speed wind tunnel capable
of measuring lift, drag and pitching moment of small models is presented. The aim is to provide
an accessible tool to do measurements in the faculty's wind tunnel, now used mostly for
demonstration purposes. The design is intended to be inexpensive and understandable for
students and it includes the base, the structure of the balance, and the means to transmit the
forces to the sensors, along with the data acquisition methodology to process the results. The
latter is made possible by using three load cells: two to measure lift and pitching moment, and
another one to measure drag. Data processing is performed by an Arduino, which also enables a
quick and easy calibration and tare process. The electronics and the accompanying code have
been tested, while the structure design is left ready to be built. This work also includes a manual
of use of the force balance.

Key words: Wind tunnel, force balance, Arduino, HX711, Load cell, three-axis, lift, drag, pitching
moment.
Design of a three-axis wind tunnel force balance Itziar Bueno Tintoré

Contents
1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 5
1.1 Objective of the study ....................................................................................................... 5
1.2 Justification of the project and state of the art ................................................................. 5
1.3 Methodology and scope .................................................................................................... 6
2 Preliminary design..................................................................................................................... 8
2.1 First proposal ..................................................................................................................... 8
2.2 Second proposal ................................................................................................................ 9
3 Force balance structure .......................................................................................................... 11
3.1 Structure base.................................................................................................................. 11
3.2 Load transmission ............................................................................................................ 14
3.2.1 Lift and pitching moment transmission ................................................................... 15
3.2.2 Drag transmission ..................................................................................................... 16
3.3 Angle of attack adjustment ............................................................................................. 16
4 Data acquisition and processing ............................................................................................. 19
4.1 Load cells ......................................................................................................................... 19
4.2 HX711 Amplifier ............................................................................................................... 19
4.3 Arduino ............................................................................................................................ 21
4.3.1 Lift ............................................................................................................................. 21
4.3.2 Drag .......................................................................................................................... 21
4.3.4 moment at the leading edge .................................................................................... 22
4.3.5 Centre of pressure .................................................................................................... 22
4.3.6 Aerodynamic coefficients ......................................................................................... 23
5 Construction ............................................................................................................................ 24
5.1 Electronics........................................................................................................................ 24
5.2 Structure of the balance .................................................................................................. 24
6 Calibration ............................................................................................................................... 30
7 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 32
8 Budget and list of materials .................................................................................................... 34

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Design of a three-axis wind tunnel force balance Itziar Bueno Tintoré

8.1 Electronics........................................................................................................................ 34
8.2 Structure materials .......................................................................................................... 34
9 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 35
10 List of tables ............................................................................................................................ 36
11 List of figures ........................................................................................................................... 37
ANNEX ............................................................................................................................................ 38
Component specifications .............................................................................................................. 39
Code................................................................................................................................................ 41
Arduino library ............................................................................................................................ 41
Force balance program code ...................................................................................................... 45
User’s manual ................................................................................................................................. 48
Piece sketches ................................................................................................................................ 48

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