Mechanical Design

Peter Moore
 Agenda
 Summary of components
 Wind Tunnel Assembly
 Annotated Exploded View
 End Piece
 Channel Contour
 Rectangle Entry Flange
 Window Flange
 Duration of Choked Flow
 Summary and current status
 Wind Tunnel Assembly
 Tunnel is operated by manually opening ball valve upstream of channel
 In current design, assembly is 18 inches long
 1½ inch width, ¼ inch throat, 2 inch test section, A/A* = 8
 Test section Mach number M = 3.68
 Assuming isentropic flow, perfect gas, γ = 1.4
 Test lasts until back pressure rises to level such that a normal shock
moves into test section.
Annotated Exploded View
End Piece
• 6061 Aluminum
• Upstream of channel
• Copper pipe is fixed with
metallic epoxy in round
opening (brazing and
soldering were ruled out)
• Ball valve brazed to copper
pipe
• Round to square transition
accomplished with a series of
chamfers and fillets.
• Recessed face will be fitted
with 1/16” rubber gasket
 Channel Contour
 6061 Aluminum
 Top and bottom are identical
 Critical aspects were thickness of test section wall, thickness of end
tabs, as well as allowing space for mounting hardware
 Contour of converging section is noncritical, accomplished with a
simple spline
 Diverging section is straight, tangent to throat radius of curvature
 Straightening region is designed with MOC
Rectangle Entry Flange
 6061 Aluminum
 Name refers to shape of channel
 Sized to be a smooth continuation of
test section geometry
 Recessed face similar to that on the
End Piece
 Will also be fitted with 1/16” rubber
gasket
 Designed to mount onto the
Window Flange
 Supports weight of apparatus
 Size constraints:
 Area of window flange
 Space needed for mounting channel
 Outer diameter matches window
flange
Window Flange

 Stainless Steel
 4” diameter opening
 Designed by Nick Behlman
 Intended to be left mounted on
vacuum chamber
 Makes interchanging of various
apparatus, such as this project, a
simple matter of undoing bolts
Exploded View of Wind Tunnel Assembly
 All bolt holes in tunnel assembly are ANSI ¼-28, 0.810” blind depth, 0.700”
thread depth
 British units used for practical reasons in order to simplify machining
 ¼”extruded acrylic walls will be cut to 15” long by 4” wide to match the
tunnel sides (excluding the end tabs) and will be glued to sides with an
appropriate epoxy
 Gaskets will be cut from 1/16” thick rubber sheet
Duration of Choked Flow

 Generic plot, not directly

pertinent to current project
 Duration vs. throat area for
different vacuum chamber
pressures in Pascals
 6.7 Pa = 50 milliTorr
 A* = 0.375 in2 (2.42 cm2)
 Approximate duration of 470
seconds, or 7.8 minutes
 Due to decision to omit diffuser,
test duration will be shorter
 Summary and Current Status
 Significant portion of project is mechanical design
 Analysis of straightening region by use of Method of Characteristics is
in progress