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National Wind Tunnel Facility, IITK

Journey so far & Its Mission


Past, Present, and Future
Dr. K. Poddar

Presentation Overview
Introduction
Report on NWTF activities (2006 2008)
Projected Activities for next 3 years (2009 2011)
Strengthening NWTF team
Proposed HRD Plan
Proposed Academic Programs
Proposed Expansion Programs
Experimental Facilities
Computational Facilities
Design & Inspection Facilities
NWTF (IITK)

Background

National studies coordinated under the auspices of AR&DB in the late eighties
identified a strong need for a low speed wind tunnel in India to provide Indian
Industry with adequate support in experimental aerodynamics for effective
development work. Thus, a National Wind Tunnel Facility Project (NWTF-P)
was initiated.

NWTF was conceived as an autonomous activity at IIT Kanpur in the


academic environment, with the objective to construct, operate, maintain and
further develop the wind tunnel facility as a Users Facility.

Further, due to funding constraints it was decided to implement the project in


two phases as follows:

Phase I
Tunnel circuit, fan, motor, and drive system
Model support mechanism, turntables, and instrumentation
Phase II
Test section parking hall and tunnel control room
Instrumentation and calibration rooms
Model design, inspection, integration rooms and model shop
Wind tunnel offices, conference room, model display room

NWTF (IITK)

National Wind Tunnel Facility


Established in 1999 with the financial support from
AR&DB, DST, and IIT Kanpur, the National Wind
Tunnel Facility (NWTF) has unique and nationally
recognized capabilities to evaluate aerodynamic
performance of flight and road vehicles as well as
wind effects on civil engineering structures.

Special Capabilities

Important features

High Reynolds Number simulation

Very low turbulence


Interchangeable mobile test sections

Automated measurement & control systems

Full-model testing with sting support system


2-D model testing using turntables
Open jet testing
Flow diagnostic using PIV & visualization
Ground effect simulation with moving belt
Gust and cross-wind simulation
ABL simulation for civil applications

NWTF (IITK)

National Wind Tunnel Facility


NWTF is committed to take up sponsored and consultancy projects of national importance as
well as supporting academic research at IIT Kanpur.

Major contributions

In house R&D activities through sponsored and consultancy


projects

Interdisciplinary and Inter-departmental interaction through


support for PG Students Thesis and faculty R&D projects
Space Capsule Recovery Experiments
R&D support for National Aerospace Programs of ADA,
ADE, ADRDE, ARDE, DRDL, NAL, VSSC
R&D support to Civil Engineering industry

HRD through short courses and symposiums

Active Research Areas


Decelerator aerodynamics, unsteady and high angle
of attack aerodynamics, Low Re aerodynamics, flow
controls, ground effect on flight and road vehicles,
Automobile aerodynamics wind effect on structures,
virtual instrumentation

LTA on Sting Support System

NWTF (IITK)

NWTF Users
Academic Institutions:

IIT Kanpur, IIT Delhi, IIT Bombay

ISRO:

VSSC

CSIR:

NAL

DRDO:

ADA, ADE, ADRDE, ARDE, DRDL

CIVIL:

BHEL, L&T, Gammon India, REL, PCTL, NTPC,


DVC, IJT, Alstom India, Lodha Bellissimo, etc.

Wind Energy:

Suzlon

Automobile:

Tata Motors, M&M

Railways:

RDSO, Contransys Pvt Ltd

NWTF (IITK)

Space Applications
Space Recovery Capsule

NWTF (IITK)

Reusable Launch Vehicle


RLV-SVT

RLV-TVT

VSSC

NWTF (IITK)

Space Vehicles with Launch Tower

NWTF (IITK)

Aeronautical Applications
Control surface
effectiveness study

Aerodynamic buffeting
study

NWTF (IITK)

Air-intake Mass Flow Simulation

NWTF (IITK)

Study on Aerofoil
GAW-Aerofoil

LS-E2-Aerofoil

NWTF (IITK)

Aerodynamic Study on Missile Models

NWTF (IITK)

Decelerator Aerodynamics

NWTF (IITK)

Study on Ram-air Parachutes

Ram-air parachute test rig

NWTF (IITK)

Double Stacked Wagon


Config 2

Config 1

Config 3

NWTF (IITK)

Study on Thermal Power Stations


Aero-elastic Chimney and Cooling Tower

NWTF (IITK)

Civil Engineering Applications

NWTF (IITK)

Major Ongoing R&D Projects


(1) Aeronautical
Experimental study on Single and multi-element airfoils for RTA
Experimental study of low Reynolds number airfoil for MAV
Aerodynamic characteristics of RLV Ascent 1:50 lift off, 1:13 scale Ascent
and Descent, RLV 1:8 and 1:6.25 FADS
Ground wind studies on GSLV-M3, PSLV
Wind tunnel studies on DRDL MK-3 missiles
(2) Non-Aeronautical
Aero-elastic model study of NDCT
Wind tunnel study on rigid model of 81 storey residential tower
Wind tunnel testing on rigid model of I.G. Stadium sports complex
Aero-elastic model study of 275 m tall RCC Triple flue Chimney

NWTF (IITK)

Tunnel Utilization
Year

Wind
OFF
Hours

Wind
On
Hours

Total
Hours

2006

580

190

2007

520

2008

540

Tunnel effort
(Rs. In Lakh)

Total project
amount
(Rs in Lakhs)

Paid

Notional

770

80

38

130

230

750

90

30

150

298

838

155

20

220

NWTF (IITK)

Tunnel Utilization (in terms of income)

NWTF (IITK)

Tunnel Utilization (in terms of occupancy)

NWTF (IITK)

Normalized Tunnel Utilization

NWTF (IITK)

Occupancy forecast for next 3 years


Serial Organizatio
#
ns

Wind OFF
Occupancy
(hrs)

Wind ON
occupancy
(hrs)

Total
Occupancy
(hrs)

VSSC

500

300

800

DRDO

650

350

1000

CSIR

325

175

500

Civil

550

300

850

Others

250

150

400

2275

1275

3550

Total

Projected occupancy = 80% per year for paid projects.

Projected income

= Rs 236 lakhs/year (at the rate of Rs 20, 000/hr)

Remaining 20% can be utilized for in-house R&D, students research, and
HRD activities.

NWTF (IITK)

Strengthening NWTF team


The following manpower distribution is required for
effective tunnel operation
Manpower

Current
strength

Requirement for full fledge


operation (60% & above
occupancy)

Research
Engineers

4+2

Technical
Assistant

3+1

Mechanics

2+8

4+8

Office staff

Project Ass

NWTF (IITK)

Proposed HRD Programs


Existing:
HRD programs in wind tunnel testing techniques
through short courses, symposium, and workshop
mainly for professionals
Proposed:
HRD programs in experimental techniques using
wind tunnel covering model design, instrumentation,
measurement techniques, data acquisition & analysis,
report writing, and validation of CFD tools
- For UG & PG engineering students across
the country
NWTF (IITK)

Proposed Academic Programs


Major: MS by Research
Minor: Experimental fluid mechanics

NWTF (IITK)

Additional Facilities proposed

Aerodynamic research facilities

Low speed wind tunnels for academic research


Annular cascade tunnel
Supersonic and hypersonic facilities
High speed jet, shock tube

Open circuit wind tunnel for civil applications

Computational facilities

Design, manufacturing & inspection facilities

NWTF (IITK)

Various Thrust Areas of Research


Fluid Structure Interaction

Low Reynolds Number Aerodynamics

Unsteady Aerodynamics

High Speed Aerodynamics

Wind Energy

Active and passive flow controls

NWTF (IITK)

Concluding Remarks
NWTF is committed to take up sponsored and consultancy
projects of national importance as well as supporting
academic research.

NWTF Proposes following academic programs


Minor: Experimental fluid mechanics
Major: MS by research

NWTF proposes to add various research facilities in the


areas of low & high speed experimental aerodynamics

NWTF (IITK)

We Look Forward to Your


Continued Support

Thank you

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