A PROJECT REPORT ON

DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A MINIATURE BLOWDOWN

SUPERSONIC WINDTUNNEL

Submitted by

TASLEEMA. AK U17AS019
TURWIN PRINCE. U U17AS001
ARUL PRAKASH. A U17AS007
PRIYADHARSHINI. K U17AS026

Submitted to
The faculty of Aeronautical & Aerospace Engineering
In the partial fulfillment for the award of the degree

BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY
In
AEROSPACE ENGINNERING

DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICAL & AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

BHARATH INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
(Declared as Deemed- to – be university under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956)
CHENNAI – 600073
MAY 2021

1
 BONAFIDECERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the project report titled,
“DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A MINIATURE BLOWDOWN
SUPERSONIC WINDTUNNEL”

Submitted by
TASLEEMA. AK U17AS019
TURWIN PRINCE.U U17AS001
ARUL PRAKASH. U17AS007
PRIYADHARSHINI. K U17AS026

To the Department of Aeronautical Engineering,

BHARATH INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
In the partial fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree of
BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY (AEROSPACE ENGINEERING)
This is a bonafide record of the work carried out by them under my guidance and supervision
in the academic year 2020–2021. Further certified that, to the best of my knowledge the work
reported herein does not form part of any other degree or diploma, on the basis of which a
degree or award was conferred on an earlier occasion on this or any other candidate.

PROJECT GUIDE HEAD OF THE DEPARTMENT

Prof. M. RAMAKRISHNA Prof. Dr. M. SUNDARARAJ

Department of Aeronautical Engineering Department of Aeronautical Engineering
Bharath Institute of Higher Education Bharath Institute of Higher Education
and Research, Chennai and Research, Chennai

2
 BHARATH INSTITUTE OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND RESEARCH
(Declared as Deemed–to–be University under section 3 of UGC Act, 1956)
BHARATH INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF AERONAUTICAL ENGINEERING

CERTIFICATE OF EVALUATION

Register Name of the Guide

SI.No Student Name Title of the project
Number and designation

1 TASLEEMA. AK U17AS019
Design and Prof
2 TURWIN PRINCE. U U17AS001 Analysis of a M.RAMAKRISHNA
Miniature Blow MADHIRA,
3 ARUL PRAKASH.A U17AS007 down Supersonic Asst Professor,
Wind tunnel BIHER
4 PRIYADHARSHINI. K U17AS026

The report of the project work submitted by the above students in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Aerospace
Engineering of Bharath Institute of Higher Education And Research has been evaluated and
confirmed to be their genuine work.

Submitted for Viva Voce held on _______________

Internal Examiner External Examiner

3
 ABSTRACT

The aim of the project is to design and analyze a miniature supersonic wind tunnel. This
supersonic wind tunnel will be an intermittent blow down type. The tunnel is operated by using
the compressor and pressure vessel with a capacity of 6000 cubic litres at a maximum storage
of 12 bar pressure. The tunnel is designed to have a flow of Mach 1.6, Mach 2.1 and Mach 2.6
in a 35mm x 17.5 mm test section. The nozzle was designed using the Method of Characteristics
to minimize the shocks in the test section. The tunnel components, C-D nozzle, Test section
and the Diffuser has been designed in CATIA. The flow passing through the wind tunnel is
simulated by ANSYS (Fluent).

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We owe a debt of gratitude to Dr. Sudararaj, Head of the Department, Department of

Aeronautical Engineering, for being a source of constant encouragement and a pillar of support
in all that we do. We would like to extend our heart full thanks to Prof. M. Ramakrishna
Madhira for his constant help, erudite guidance and immense passion which enthused us to do
the project better.

It is worth mentioning about my team mates, friends and colleagues of Aeronautical

Department, for extending their kind help whenever the necessity arose. I thank one and all
who have directly and indirectly helped me in making this design project a great success.

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 CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................................7
1.1 TYPES OF SUPERSONIC WINDTUNNELS:.........................................................................7
1.2 ELEMENTS OF SWT:................................................................................................................7
1.3 BASIC CONCEPT/ PRINCIPLE OF SUPERSONIC BLOWDOWN WINDTUNNEL ......8
2. ISENTROPHIC FLOW RELATION CALCULATIONS: ...........................................................9
2.1 PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS ...............................................................................................9
2.2 TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS: ..................................................................................10
2.3 DENSITY MEASUREMENTS: ...............................................................................................11
2.4 VELOCITYAT TEST SECTION: ...........................................................................................12
2.5 MASS FLOW RATE (ṁ) : .......................................................................................................12
2.6 RUN TIME: ................................................................................................................................12
2.7 LIST OF TUNNEL PARAMETERS: ......................................................................................14
3. DESIGN OF SUPERSONIC WINDTUNNEL ..............................................................................15
3.1 TEST SECTION ........................................................................................................................15
3.2 NOZZLE .....................................................................................................................................15
3.2.1 SUBSONIC PORTION OF NOZZLE (CONERGENCE) ..............................................15
3.2.2 NOZZLE THROAT: ..........................................................................................................16
3.2.3 SUPERSONIC PORTION OF NOZZLE (DIVERGENCE):.........................................16
3.2.4 METHOD OF CHARECTERISTICS ..............................................................................17
3.2.5 GRAPHS: ............................................................................................................................21
3.3 DIFFUSER: ................................................................................................................................22
3.4 OVERALL DESIGN: ................................................................................................................23
4. SUPERSONIC WINDTUNNEL ANALYSIS: ..............................................................................24
4.1 CONTOURS OF THE WINDTUNNEL ..................................................................................24
4.2 GRAPHS: ...................................................................................................................................25
4.2.1 CENTRELINE GRAPH - DISTANCE VS MACH NUMBER:.....................................25
4.2.2 CENTRELINE GRAPH - DISTANCE VS TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE: .....26
5. CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................................28
6. LITERATURE SURVEY: ..............................................................................................................29
7. JAVA PROGRAM: .........................................................................................................................31
8. REFERENCES: ...............................................................................................................................32

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 1. INTRODUCTION
Due to the tremendous increase of flight speeds in the past years, supersonic wind
tunnels have become a necessary tool in analyzing the problem involved in transonic,
supersonic and hypersonic flow and flight.
A wind tunnel is a device designed to generate air flows of various speeds through a
test section. Wind tunnels are typically used in aerodynamic research to analyse the behaviour
of flows under varying conditions, both within channels and over solid surfaces.
Aerodynamicists can use the controlled environment of the wind tunnel to measure flow
conditions and forces on models of aircraft as they are being designed. Being able to collect
diagnostic information from models allows engineers to inexpensively tweak designs for
aerodynamic performance without building numerous fully-functional prototypes.
Supersonic wind tunnels have been used for research and development for more than
five decades. Aerodynamics, propulsion and acoustic testing are some of the main uses of such
tunnels. For example, wind tunnels were used extensively to investigate the aerodynamic
characteristics of the Space Shuttle and Concorde. In supersonic flows, the presence of a body
in the flow is not “felt” until the oblique or normal shock it has created is encountered. This
shock results from the coalescence of highly compressed air around the body. This is the flow
regime that the wind tunnel in this project aims to create.

1.1 TYPES OF SUPERSONIC WINDTUNNELS:

1.2 ELEMENTS OF SWT:

(a) C-D Nozzle (b) Test Section (c) Diffuser

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1.3 BASIC CONCEPT/ PRINCIPLE OF SUPERSONIC BLOWDOWN
WINDTUNNEL
A supersonic wind tunnel is a test bed for examining the fluid mechanics and associated
fluid phenomena for air travelling faster than the speed of sound. In order for the air inside the
tunnel to reach supersonic conditions, the flow must be accelerated from rest through a
converging diverging nozzle.
The Mach number produced in the test section is dependent on the area ratio between
the test section and the throat of the nozzle. In high-speed wind tunnel theory, since the air is
travelling at high velocities through the nozzle and the test section, it can be assumed that the
air flow is adiabatic i.e., no heat is exchanged into or out of the wind tunnel. In addition, the
acceleration of the flow is caused by extremely smooth changes of the surface contour of the
nozzle.
The pressure ratio of the stagnation pressure to the static pressure required to start the
tunnel is specified for most of the cases. Once the pressure ratio increases, the air starts moving
and the wind tunnel progresses through stages until it is fully started. The first stage occurs
when the pressure ratio is increased such that the air starts flowing through the wind tunnel.
Now the flow is subsonic everywhere throughout the tunnel. Furthermore increasing the
pressure ratio, it will cause the flow to accelerate. Increasing the ratio up to a critical point will
cause a normal shock to form at the throat, choking the flow. Increasing the pressure ratio
further will drive the normal shock farther downstream into the tunnel. At the point, the
pressure ratio increases enough to drive the normal shock fully past the test section, now the
tunnel is considered fully started. As the tunnel is fully started, the normal shock will be
positioned in the diffuser of the wind tunnel. The diffuser is responsible for decelerating the
flow and to improve total pressure recovery of the flow.

8
2. ISENTROPHIC FLOW RELATION CALCULATIONS:
The first step in design of the blow-down type wind tunnel is the determination of the
following factors:
✓ Pressure ratio and temperature across the wind tunnel to achieve the required test
Section Mach number.
✓ Mass flow rate and the total mass to meet the tunnel size and run time requirements

2.1 PRESSURE MEASUREMENTS:

With the knowledge of tunnel stagnation pressure (Po), the static pressure (P) at Test section
and Throat were determined.
✓ Settling Chamber pressure :
At Mach 1.6 – 4 bar pressure
At Mach 2.1 – 5 bar pressure
At Mach 2.6 – 6 bar pressure

✓ Pressure ratio at Test section :

γ
Po γ−1
= (1 + M 2 )γ−1
P 2

At Mach 1.6,
Po
( P )test sec = 4.25

At Mach 2.1,
Po
( P )test sec = 9.144

At Mach 2.6,
Po
(P) = 19.954
test sec

✓ Pressure ratio at Throat :

γ
Po γ−1
= (1 + M 2 )γ−1
P 2

At Mach 1.6, 2.1 and 2.6,

Po
(P) = 1.892
throat

✓ Pressure at Test Section:

Po
Ptest sec = Po
(P)
test sec

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 At Mach 1.6, Ptest sec = 94108.789 Pa
At Mach 2.1, Ptest sec = 54680.664 Pa
At Mach 2.6, Ptest sec = 3006.915 Pa

✓ Pressure at throat :
Po
Pthroat = Po
(P)
throat

At Mach 1.6, Pthroat = 21416.49 Pa

At Mach 2.1, Pthroat = 264270.613 Pa
At Mach 2.6, Pthroat = 317124.735 Pa

2.2 TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENTS:

✓ Temperature ratio at Test section :
To 𝛾−1
= 1 + 𝑀2
T 2

At Mach 1.6,
To
(T) = 1.512
test sec

At Mach 2.1,
To
(T) = 1.882
test sec

At Mach 2.6,
To
(T) = 2.352
test sec

✓ Temperature ratio at Throat :

To γ−1
=1+ M2
T 2

At Mach 1.6, 2.1 and 2.6,

To
(T) = 1.2
throat

✓ Temperature at Test Section:

To
Ttest sec = To
(T)
test sec

At Mach 1.6, Ttest sec = 198.412 K

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 At Mach 2.1, Ttest sec = 159.404 K
At Mach 2.6, Ttest sec = 127.551 K

✓ Temperature at throat :
At Mach 1.6, 2.1 and 2.6, Tthroat = 250 K

2.3 DENSITY MEASUREMENTS:

✓ Settling Chamber density :
Po
ρo = RTo

At Mach 1.6, ρo = 4.645 kg/m³ (4 bar pressure)

At Mach 2.1, ρo = 5.807 kg/m³ (5 bar pressure)
At Mach 2.6, ρo = 6.968 kg/m³ (6 bar pressure)

✓ Density ratio at Test section :

1
ρo γ−1
= (1 + M 2 )γ−1
ρ 2

At Mach 1.6,
ρo
( )test sec = 2.8111
ρ

At Mach 2.1,
ρo
( )test sec = 4.859
ρ

At Mach 2.6,
ρo
( )test sec = 8.483
ρ

✓ Density ratio at Throat :

1
ρo γ−1
= (1 + M 2 )γ−1
ρ 2

At Mach 1.6, 2.1 and 2.6,

ρo
( )throat = 1.577
ρ

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✓ Density at Test Section:
ρo
ρtest sec = ρo
(ρ)
test sec

At Mach 1.6, ρotest sec = 1.652 kg/m³

At Mach 2.1, ρotest sec = 1.195 kg/m³
At Mach 2.6, ρotest sec = 0.821 kg/m³

✓ Density at throat :
ρo
ρthroat = ρo
( )
ρ throat

At Mach 1.6, ρthroat = 2.945 kg/m³

At Mach 2.1, ρthroat = 3.682 kg/m³
At Mach 2.6, ρthroat = 4.418 kg/m³

2.4 VELOCITYAT TEST SECTION:

v = M√γRTtest sec

At Mach 1.6, v = 451.761 m/s

At Mach 2.1, v = 531.463 m/s
At Mach 2.6, v = 588.598 m/s

2.5 MASS FLOW RATE (ṁ) :

PoA ∗ γ 2 γ+1
ṁ= √ ( )γ−1
√To R γ + 1

At Mach 1.6, ṁ = 4.5264 kg/s

At Mach 2.1, ṁ = 3.8498 kg/s
At Mach 2.6, ṁ = 2.9304 kg/s

2.6 RUN TIME:

1
VTPe P n
t= ṁRTe
[1 − (P i ) ]
e

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𝑉𝑇 - Volume of the tank = 6000 lt;
𝑃𝑒 - end pressure;
2𝛾
Pi – initial pressure 𝑃𝑒 = 𝑃𝑜 [1 + 𝛾+1 (𝑀2 − 1)]

Te – end temperature; Te = γ To
R- Gas constant =287 J/kg K;
ṁ - Mass flow rate

➢ Mach 1.6 :
Run time (t) = 7.42 sec
➢ Mach 2.1 :
Run time (t) = 15.78 sec
➢ Mach 2.6 :
Run time (t) = 24.21 sec

13
2.7 LIST OF TUNNEL PARAMETERS:

M = 1.6 M = 2.1 M = 2.6

Test sec Area (mm2) 612.5 612.5 612.5
Area ratio 1.25 1.837 2.896
throat height*breadth*length 28*17.5*2 19.052*17.5*2 12.085*17.5*2
Throat Area (mm2) 490 333.41 211.4875
Throat height (mm) 28 19.052 12.085
Set. Chamber Temp (K) 300 300 300
Set. Chamber Density(kg/m3) 4.645 5.807 6.968
Set. Chamber Press(Pa)(bar) 4 5 6
Pressure ratio at Test sec 4.2504 9.144 19.954
Pressure ratio at Throat 1.892 1.892 1.892
Pressure at Test sec 94108.789 54680.664 3006.915
Pressure at throat 211416.4904 264270.613 317124.735
Temp ratio at Test sec 1.512 1.882 2.352
Temp ratio at throat 1.2 1.2 1.2
Temp at Test sec 198.412 159.404 127.551
Temp at throat 250 250 250
Density ratio at Test sec 2.8111 4.859 8.483
Density ratio at throat 1.577 1.577 1.577
Density at Test sec 1.652 1.195 0.821
Density at throat 2.945 3.682 4.418
Velocity at test sec(m/s) 451.7611 531.4638 588.5984
Tank Volume (m3) 6 6 6
Charging time (mins) 65.92 65.92 65.92
Tunnel compression ratio 1.1 1.5 2
Mass flow rate (kg/s) 4.5264 3.8498 2.9304
Run time (sec) 7.42 15.78 24.21
A2*/A1* = P01/p02 0.495 0.779 1.319

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3. DESIGN OF SUPERSONIC WINDTUNNEL
The Intermittent blow-down supersonic wind tunnel consists of a reservoir or the
settling chamber, supersonic nozzle(C-D nozzle), test section and exhaust (diffuser).

3.1 TEST SECTION

One of the largest considerations in the design of a supersonic wind tunnel is the size
of the test section. Downstream of the nozzle is the test section. It the part of the wind tunnel
in which the model is placed and the complete Wind tunnel size is depend on the size of the
test section. The test section of the wind tunnel is 105mm long, 35mm in height and 17.5mm
width. The cross sectional area of the test section has a large influence on tunnel mass flow rate and
run time.

3.2 NOZZLE
This is a part of tunnel, where flow is accelerated from low speed to high speed. This
is placed between the settling chamber and test section. Nozzle will be designed depending on
the speed of test section .The generation of supersonic flow in nozzle requires a convergence
to a minimum area cross section and then a divergence to large area (first throat).

3.2.1 SUBSONIC PORTION OF NOZZLE (CONERGENCE)

Usually the convergence portion of nozzle is prescribed by any smooth curvature
which will accelerate the gases from stagnation conditions to a uniform and parallel
velocity at sonic condition at the throat. The converging or subsonic portion of the nozzle
was then designed by fitting the contour according to the 5th order polynomial spline of
equation below where x and y are the Cartesian coordinates, h is the height of the contour
at the throat, and L is the total length of the spline.

𝑥 3 𝑥 4 𝑥 5
𝑦(𝑥) = ℎ [10 ( ) − 15 ( ) + 6 ( ) ]
𝐿 𝐿 𝐿

15
 But in this project as we converge the subsonic portion from circle inlet to rectangle outlet,
a simple splined multi section solid and multi section pocket is being used for the design
of the nozzle in the convergent section (Boolean operation – GSD spline in CATIA). We
are using 60mm as the outer diameter and 54mm as inner diameter. By using 54mm as
inner diameter, we get a bigger area which can provide a higher mass flow rate.

3.2.2 NOZZLE THROAT:

The sonic condition which means the Mach number is equal to one occurs at the
smallest flow area of the entire passage is known as the throat section. From isentropic
area relation (A/A*), the nozzle throat area can be found out for different Mach number
A
At Mach 1.6, = 1.25 , so h* = 28 mm
A∗
A
At Mach 1.6, =1.837 so, h* = 19.052 mm
A∗
A
At Mach 1.6, = 2.896 so, h* = 12.085 mm
A∗

3.2.3 SUPERSONIC PORTION OF NOZZLE (DIVERGENCE):

The divergent section is the wall length where the flow expands around the corner,
and expansion or Mach lines are being generated. The velocity increases continuously
depending upon the angle through which the flow expands. Since the divergent section occurs
all at once, an infinite number of expansion lines are generated from points at opposite corners
as shown in Figure and intersect each other, dividing the flow area into interacting expansion
fans.

Generation of Expansion Waves in a Nozzle

To analyse the flow behaviour through this region, several methods have been developed
and published. By far the most popular and practical one is the “method of characteristics”.
This method has been employed in the present analysis.

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3.2.4 METHOD OF CHARECTERISTICS:
Method of characteristics was used to get the contoured shape of divergent of nozzle.
The "method of characteristics" is a mathematical or numerical procedure for solving
hyperbolic partial differential equations of fluid motion by means of ordinary differential
equations. It relates the variable properties along a certain curve, known as “the characteristic”.
This method is applicable to supersonic flows only, and it was developed for the first time by
Prandtl and Busemann.
Expansion lines could be divided into two groups, those which come from the top
corner known as "right-running" waves and the one coming from the bottom corner called "left-
running" waves.

Characteristic curves between three nodes

Starting from a line of points, you then find the properties and locations of subsequent points
downstream, creating a ‘net’ as you go. Intersection of these two expansion waves behave in
such a manner that at an intersection point, they bend on the downstream side of the flow
towards each other and as a result, they change the flow direction of the streamline

Characteristic net in a nozzle

The method is relatively straight forward to compute, and can reduced to a set of simple

equations. Using the simple example above, along the curve ac where the initial velocity and

flow angles are known (this is the starting curve or line). The initial speed will be Mach 1 as

the flow is choked in the throat, the flow angles are simply found by interpolating between 0°

17
along the centreline and at the wall (the divergence angle). These values are represented as the

Prandtl-Meyer angle and the flow angle. Points upstream, such as point b, are found using the

following:

This is then repeated for points bc, de…. and so on, creating the net. Once the Mach number is

known, the Mach angle can be found using the standard equation

The x coordinates of each point n, can then be found using the following:

where the coordinates of the previous points are used, with the gradients of the lines leading

to the new point, m

The Prandtl-Meyer function is shown below to solve for the Mach number leads you to an

equation that cannot be solved explicitly.

The calculations can be executed manually, with the aid of spreadsheet programming or

technical computing software, but as the number of characteristic lines increase, so do the data

points, and the manual calculations can become tedious. So we had used the java moc program

18
 from NASA page. The output of the code is a series of points in the x-y plane which represents

a contour of the diverging section of the nozzle that will produce a uniform Mach number in

the test section.

Source of moc java program:

https://www.grc.nasa.gov/www/k-12/UndergradProgs/index.htm
We get the output of program like

COORDINATES OF SUPERSONIC PORTION OF NOZZLE FOR MACH 1.6:

SI. SI. SI. SI.
X Y X Y X Y X Y
no no no no
1 0 14 12 1.96 14.042 23 3.96 14.168 34 35.94 16.884
2 0.18 14 13 2.14 14.042 24 4.14 14.182 35 37.54 16.968
3 0.36 14 14 2.32 14.056 25 4.32 14.196 36 39.1 17.066
4 0.52 14 15 2.5 14.056 26 18.42 15.512 37 40.64 17.136
5 0.72 14 16 2.68 14.07 27 22.04 15.834 38 42.18 17.22
6 0.9 14 17 2.88 14.084 28 24.7 16.058 39 43.7 17.276
7 1.08 14 18 3.06 14.098 29 26.96 16.24 40 45.2 17.346
8 1.26 14.014 19 3.24 14.112 30 28.96 16.394 41 46.7 17.402
9 1.44 14.014 20 3.42 14.126 31 30.84 16.534 42 48.2 17.444
10 1.6 14.028 21 3.6 14.14 32 32.6 16.66 43 49.7 17.486
11 1.78 14.028 22 3.78 14.154 33 34.3 16.884 44 51.2 17.5

19
 COORDINATES OF SUPERSONIC PORTION OF NOZZLE FOR MACH 2.1:
SI. SI. SI. SI.
X Y X Y X Y X Y
no no no no
1 0 9.526 12 1.176 9.583 23 2.376 9.745 34 32.976 15.546
2 0.108 9.526 13 1.284 9.5926 24 2.484 9.773 35 34.98 15.813
3 0.216 9.526 14 1.392 9.602 25 2.592 9.792 36 36.996 16.0703
4 0.312 9.526 15 1.5 9.611 26 14.796 12.374 37 39.06 16.308
5 0.432 9.526 16 1.608 9.630 27 18.048 13.031 38 41.16 16.537
6 0.54 9.535 17 1.728 9.640 28 20.592 13.517 39 43.296 16.746
7 0.648 9.535 18 1.836 9.659 29 22.848 13.936 40 45.48 16.946
8 0.756 9.545 19 1.944 9.678 30 24.96 14.308 41 47.724 17.137
9 0.864 9.554 20 2.052 9.687 31 27 14.650 42 50.016 17.308
10 0.96 9.564 21 2.16 9.706 32 28.992 14.965 43 52.38 17.461
11 1.068 9.573 22 2.268 9.726 33 30.984 15.270 44 54.804 17.5

COORDINATES OF SUPERSONIC PORTION OF NOZZLE FOR MACH 2.6:

SI. SI. SI. SI.
X Y X Y X Y X Y
no no no no
1 0 6.0425 14 0.696 6.1089 27 10.854 9.861 40 33.732 15.505
2 0.054 6.0425 15 0.75 6.121 28 12.594 10.459 41 35.994 15.831
3 0.108 6.0425 16 0.804 6.1331 29 14.202 10.991 42 38.37 16.145
4 0.156 6.0425 17 0.864 6.145 30 15.768 11.480 43 40.872 16.435
5 0.216 6.0485 18 0.918 6.157 31 17.328 11.946 44 43.512 16.701
6 0.27 6.0485 19 0.972 6.175 32 18.906 12.393 45 46.296 16.943
7 0.324 6.0545 20 1.026 6.187 33 20.526 12.822 46 49.236 17.16
8 0.378 6.0606 21 1.08 6.205 34 22.194 13.239 47 52.35 17.341
9 0.432 6.0666 22 1.134 6.223 35 23.916 13.650 48 55.638 17.480
10 0.48 6.0727 23 1.188 6.241 36 25.71 14.042 49 59.118 17.5
11 0.534 6.0847 24 1.242 6.260 37 27.582 14.429
12 0.588 6.0908 25 1.296 6.278 38 29.538 14.798
13 0.642 6.10292 26 8.742 9.093 39 31.584 15.160

20
3.2.5 GRAPHS:

supersonic portion of Mach 1.6 nozzle

20
18
16
14
height (mm)
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Distance (mm)

Supersonic portion of Mach 2.1 nozzle

20
18
16
14
height (mm)

12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
distance (mm)

Supersonic portion of Mach 2.6 nozzle

20
18
16
14
height (mm)

12
10
8
6
4
2
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
distance (mm)

21
3.3 DIFFUSER:
In order to recover the pressure head of the flow, a diffuser is installed immediately
downstream of the test section. To decrease the speed of the flow in a supersonic wind tunnel,
a shockwave is generally used, however when a supersonic flow passes through a shock wave,
a loss in total pressure occurs. This loss in total pressure contributes significantly to the power
requirements of supersonic tunnels. It has been proven that the total pressure loss associated
with decelerating a flow to subsonic speeds through a normal shock at the test section Mach
number is much greater than if the normal shock were to occur at a lower Mach number, ideally
unity. This fact has led to most diffusers being designed with a converging section, minimum
area diffuser throat, and diverging section.
Within the converging section of the diffuser the flow is compressed and decelerated to
a Mach number lower than that in the test section. After passing through the diffuser throat the
flow will accelerate slightly as the area increases in the diverging section until a normal shock
is established at a Mach number lower than that of the test section, with an accompanying
reduction in total pressure loss. However, it has also been shown that diffuser throat sizes
capable of “starting” a tunnel are considerably larger than that needed for the diffuser throat to
be around Mach 1 during operation. Therefore, it is concluded that if the diffuser throat could
be opened to an area capable of “starting” the tunnel, and then closed to a more optimum area
ratio after the shock has passed through the throat, the pressure ratio requirements of running
the wind tunnel will be significantly reduced.
Since diffuser performance has such a large influence on tunnel sizing and run time,
variable throat diffusers were investigated in an attempt to achieve the highest possible pressure
recovery. Many different variable throat diffuser designs were investigated, however due to
cost constraints and the increased complexity associated with a variable throat diffuser, a fixed
throat converging-diverging diffuser was chosen. In addition to increased cost and complexity,
it is often the case that variable throat diffusers do not perform as well as expected.
In early 1950, tests were conducted at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory in order
to determine the most efficient diffuser configuration for use in a supersonic wind tunnel
(Diggins, NAVORD Report). From these tests it was determined that a converging-diverging
diffuser with a variable throat located at 42% the overall diffuser length resulted in the best
pressure recovery. In addition, a throat located at 20% achieved similar, but slightly lower,
pressure recoveries. However, this optimum pressure recovery is obtained at some throat
opening not able to start the tunnel. Therefore, the diffuser throat must begin at some larger
value until supersonic flow is established, upon which the diffuser throat can be closed to the
optimum value, resulting in a large increase in pressure recovery and wind tunnel run time.
The throat in the fixed converging-diverging diffuser was chosen to be at 20% the overall
length. This throat location demonstrated only slightly lower pressure recoveries than 42%,
and the increased length of the diverging section allows for greater subsonic diffusion. The
cross sectional area of the diffuser throat which will allow the normal shock to pass through
during the starting process is determined using

22
But as we are using different Mach numbers in the test section, we cannot find a particular
second throat area by the above formula. So we took 95% of the test section height to be our
second throat height (i.e.33.25mm).
We considered the length of our diffuser to be 5D (D is the height of test section) i.e. 175mm
Second throat is located at 20% of the total diffuser length, i.e. at 35mm, with a wedge angle
of 2 degree for divergence.

3.4 OVERALL DESIGN:

➢ MACH 1.6 :

➢ MACH 2.1:

23
 ➢ MACH 2.6:

4. SUPERSONIC WINDTUNNEL ANALYSIS:

The numerical analysis is done with the help of ANSYS Fluent software for the different
nozzle contour providing various Mach number at the exit. The nozzle contour are analyzed
thoroughly and found that the Mach number is slowly accelerating in the subsonic portion and
reaches sonic in the throat. Then, the flow is again accelerated to supersonic speed in the
diverging region of the nozzle and reaches the desired Mach number in the exit of the nozzle.
The shock is swallowed due to the increased pressure ratio and again decreased to
operating pressure in order to withstand the shock in the second throat.

4.1 CONTOURS OF THE WINDTUNNEL

➢ MACH 1.6:

➢ MACH 2.1:

24
 ➢ MACH 2.6:

4.2 GRAPHS:
4.2.1 CENTRELINE GRAPH - DISTANCE VS MACH NUMBER:
➢ Mach 1.6

➢ Mach 2.1

25
 ➢ Mach 2.6

4.2.2 CENTRELINE GRAPH - DISTANCE VS TEMPERATURE AND PRESSURE:

➢ Mach 1.6

26
➢ Mach 2.1

➢ Mach 2.6

27
 ➢ For the in viscid model, the effect of boundary layer on the wall is neglected.
➢ Without the boundary layer, there are no obstacle to the flow and therefore, a normal
shockwave is expected to occur within the wind tunnel.
➢ The occurrence of normal shock is to balance the pressure at the exit of the diffuser so
that it’s the same with the back pressure.
➢ This shockwave location is determined by the total pressure at the convergent-
divergent nozzle inlet and with the increase of total pressure, the shockwave will
move backwards toward the diffuser outlet.
➢ The difference in the normal shock location does not affect the Mach number in the
whole test section region for the in viscid case.

5. CONCLUSION
The Windtunnel has been designed for three Mach numbers (Mach 1.6, Mach 2.1 and
mach 2.6). Since the Wind tunnels are pressure recovery devices, the efficiency of the
Windtunnel can be determined by calculating the total pressure loss. The total pressure loss at
test section for Mach numbers 1.6, 2.1 and 2.6 are 24 %, 11% and 5%. Therefore this particular
design of Mach number 2.6 is more efficient with the minimum total pressure loss.

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6. LITERATURE SURVEY:
1. Design of supersonic wind tunnel using method of characteristics
The authors of this literature have designed a supersonic wind tunnel for testing objects like
spikes used in the supersonic aircrafts and shock absorbing objects. By using method of
characteristics they assumed that the shocks formed will be in contact with the surface and does
not affect the uniformity of flow through the duct and velocity of the flow. For defining 64
coordinates in the supersonic section of the nozzle and the internal points they used Area- Mach
relation and Prandtl Mayer spreadsheet solver and other tools. They used CATIA V5 for
designing the wind tunnel and the authors obtained the coordinates of the supersonic section
of the wind tunnel by MS EXCEL with calculations. By these conditions the supersonic wind
tunnel section has designed.
Authors : Parvathavadhani Krishna Bahumanyam ,University of Alabama in Huntsville
Yagya Dutta, Dwivedi Institute of Aeronautical Engineering,
Nirmith Kumar Mishra ,Marri Laxman Reddy Institute of Technology

2. Design of a supersonic wind tunnel

The author of this literature has designed a supersonic wind tunnel using the existing
compressed air tank at the University of Arkansas. A throat area of 0.000375 m2 was used in
the design process. He calculated the properties of air by various Mach numbers. With the
conducted experimental results he determined if a wind tunnel of Mach numbers between one
and five can be built at the University of Arkansas and can run for a sufficient amount of time.
With various Mach numbers the dimensions were also calculated for the supersonic wind
tunnel
Author : Jay Pascual University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

3. Computation of flows in supersonic wind tunnel

The authors of this literature had demonstrated that the stabilized finite-element methods can
be utilized to design and analyse supersonic wind-tunnels. They investigated the effect of
various component geometries. The authors have used method of characteristics for designing
the nozzle section of the supersonic wind tunnel. They found without boundary layer conditions
it fails to deliver a uniform flow in the test section and they also found that in certain cases
though a certain stagnation to exit pressure ratio may be able to start the tunnel, a higher
pressure ratio may be desirable for better flow quality. Finally they found the results that one
involving flow in a double throat nozzle and other with Mach 3 flow over a compression corner
Authors : Sanjay Mittal, Satish Yadav Department of Aerospace Engineering, Indian Institute
of Technology, Kanpur.

29
4. A Low Cost Numerical Simulation of a Supersonic Wind-tunnel Design
The authors designed a supersonic wind tunnel with a Mach number of 3 and a test section 30
X 30cm. To simulate flow field and to detect the normal shock in the supersonic wind tunnel
an in house CFC code is developed using Roe scheme. In the Roe scheme, flow conditions at
inner and outer sides of cell faces are determined using an upwind biased algorithm. The
authors have used method of characteristics for designing the geometry of the nozzle and next
they simulated the flow in the nozzle then the authors used trial and error method for designing
the diffusers and at last they selected appropriate geometry for diffuser
Authors : H. Bagheri-Esfea , M. Dehghan Manshadi

5. Design, fabrication, and realization of a supersonic wind tunnel for educational

purposes
In this literature the authors had simple, detailed and multi levelled scheme. They used one
dimensional isentropic flow theory for conceptual design phase and computational fluid
dynamics for the detailed phase. The authors have carried out parametric study over a number
of design parameters using numerical simulations. After designing and fabricating the
supersonic wind tunnel, the authors went with a number of successful textbook experiments
for Mach number 2. Finally the results showed good agreement with theoretical predictions.
Authors: Mohammed K. Ibrahima (corresponding author), F. Abohelwab, Galal B. Salemc a
Lecturer, Aerospace Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, University of Cairo,
Giza, 12613 Egypt.

6. Design and Construction of Supersonic Wind Tunnel

The author explained about the design and construction of a small scale supersonic wind tunnel
with the capability of achieving various Mach numbers in the test section. The importance of
maintaining the tunnel pressure ratio to get the desired flow velocities was also studied. The
calculations performed here in this literature had confirmed the theory that adding a diffuser
will increase the run time.
Authors: Kelly Butler, David Cancel, Brian Earley, Stancy Morin, Evan Morrison and
Michael Sangenario

7. Design and Fabrication of a Supersonic Wind Tunnel

This author designed and fabricated a supersonic wind tunnel that can be operated using
compressor and pressure vessel with the capacity of 1000 litres and maximum storage pressure
of 12 bar. The tunnel is operated for 30 seconds by air stored in the pressure vessel. This design
is based on the assumptions of 2D in viscid flow and normal pressure recovery in the diffuser.

30
This tunnel was designed with the Mach number of 2.5 and 80mm X 20mm rectangular test
section. Calibration of this facility was also carried out by measuring the static pressure in the
test section, which shows a test section Mach number of 2.14.
International Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS) ISSN: 2394-3661,
Volume-2, Issue-5, May 2015
Author: Bhavin K Bharath.

8. Computation of Flow in Supersonic Wind Tunnel

The author explained that the computations are capable of simulating the start-up problems
associated with the wind tunnels that are equipped with narrow diffusers and do not allow the
start-up shock to pass through. The effects of various component geometries were also
investigated in this literature. It also investigated that the design of nozzle block without
boundary layer corrections fails to deliver a uniform flow in the test section.
Authors: Sanjay Mittal, Satish Yadav

7. JAVA PROGRAM:
eptioninthread"AWT-EventQueue-0"java.lang.NullPointerException
atjava.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(UnknownSource)
atjava.io.FileOutputStream.<init>(UnknownSource)
atjava.io.FileWriter.<init>(UnknownSource)
atMoc$Num$Inp$Anlpan$Inleft.handleBut(Moc.java:6897)
atMoc$Num$Inp$Anlpan$Inleft.action(Moc.java:6799)
atjava.awt.Component.handleEvent(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.Component.postEvent(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.Component.postEvent(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.Component.dispatchEventImpl(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.Component.dispatchEvent(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEventImpl(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.EventQueue.access$500(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.EventQueue$3.run(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.EventQueue$3.run(UnknownSource)

31
atjava.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(NativeMethod)
at
java.security.ProtectionDomain$JavaSecurityAccessImpl.doIntersectio
nPrivilege(UnknownSource)
at
java.security.ProtectionDomain$JavaSecurityAccessImpl.doIntersectio
nPrivilege(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.EventQueue$4.run(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.EventQueue$4.run(UnknownSource)103
atjava.security.AccessController.doPrivileged(NativeMethod)
at
java.security.ProtectionDomain$JavaSecurityAccessImpl.doIntersectio
nPrivilege(UnknownSource)
atjava.awt.EventQueue.dispatchEvent(UnknownSource)
at
java.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpOneEventForFilters(Unknown
Source)
atjava.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForFilter(Unknown
Source)
atjava.awt.EventDispatchThread.pumpEventsForHierarchy(Unknow

8. REFERENCES:

1) Bhavin K Bharath, Design and Fabrication of a Supersonic Wind Tunnel, International

Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences (IJEAS) ISSN: 2394-3661, Volume-2,
Issue-5, May 2015
2) Md Akhtar Khan 1 , Sanjay Kumar Sardiwal 2 , M.V.Sai Sharath 3 , D.Harika
Chowdary,, Design of a Supersonic Nozzle using Method of Characteristics,
International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology (IJERT) Vol. 2 Issue 11,
November - 2013 IJERT ISSN: 2278-0181
3) Peter Moore, Design of a Supersonic Wind Tunnel, Project: ME-JB3-SWT1

32
4) Kishore M1 , Dr. Velliangiri M2 , Kirubakaran A3 , Kamesh Adithya S B4 , Naveen
Kumar G5
Design and CFD Analysis of Supersonic Nozzle, International Journal for Research in
Applied Science & Engineering Technology (IJRASET)
5) Y D DWIVEDI1, B. PARVATHAVADHANI. K 2 , NIRMITH KUMAR MISHRA3,
Design of supersonic wind tunnel using method of characteristics, International Journal
of Advanced Transport Phenomena Vol. 01, No. 01, Jan-Dec 201
6) H. Bagheri-Esfea , M. Dehghan Manshadi*b, A Low Cost Numerical Simulation of a
Supersonic Wind-tunnel Design, IJE TRANSACTIONS A: Basics Vol. 31, No. 1,
(January 2018) 128-13
7) Pascual, Jay, "Design of a supersonic wind tunnel" (2007). Mechanical Engineering
Undergraduate Honors Theses. 21. http://scholarworks.uark.edu/meeguht/21
8) Amol L. Mangrulkar1, Shubham Bagade2, Saurabh Chavan3, Jiteshkumar Babani4,
Shreepad Bhagat5, Design and Fabrication of an Open Circuit Subsonic Wind Tunnel
for Educational Purposes.
9) Junmou SHEN a,b, *, Jingang DONG a , Ruiqu LI a , Jiang ZHANG a , Xing CHEN
a , Yongming QIN a , Handong MA a, Integrated supersonic wind tunnel nozzle, a
China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, Beijing 100074, China.
10) Kelly Butler David Cancel Brian Earley Stacey Morin Evan Morrison Michael
Sangenario, Design and Construction of a Supersonic Wind Tunnel, March 16, 2010
11) Peter James Moore, Design of a Supersonic Wind Tunnel, Worcester Polytechnic
Institute, October 2009.
12) JOJI MATSUMOTO, DESIGN AND TESTING OF A SUBSCALE SUPERSONIC
AEROPROPULSION WIND TUNNEL, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT
ARLINGTON May 2000
13) M. A. Moelyadi1, a) , M. F. Izzaturrahman1 , C. Adnel1 , M. H. Izzuddin1 , E.
Amalia1, Design and CFD Simulation of a Compact Supersonic Wind Tunnel,
Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Institute of Technology Bandung,
Jl. Ganesha 10 Bandung 40132, Indonesia
14) WILBUR CHANG, DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A RECTANGULAR SUPERSONIC WIND
TUNNEL FACILITY FOR THE STUDY OF SHOCK/BOUNDARY LAYER
INTERACTIONS, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011

33