Generally required to measure the ‘silhouette’ (blockage) of a wind tunnel test vehicle/object
ATE can offer alternative scanning solutions to measure the frontal profile of a test object. An example of this is where the frontal area of vehicle needs to be ascertained for wind tunnel measurements.
Option 1 - 2D utilising a wind tunnel flow survey system (traverser)
In this example ATE has designed a control system to operate in conjunction with the client’s existing hardware, and devised the system to operate with an ATE Flow Traverser.
The existing hardware uses a laser beam and a camera and lens system, with an alignment rig. This is mounted on the main traverser, but could equally be mounted on a free-standing 2-D traversing frame. A simple white screen is placed behind the vehicle, where the laser beam falls, and can be observed by the camera.
This method analyses camera images and follows the edge of the vehicle using the traverser. The system functions approximately twice as fast as the client’s original, and agrees closely with the his earlier results.
Option 2 - 3D utilising a wind tunnel flow survey system (traverser)
This option utilises the flow traverser. A laser unit is mounted on to an attachment on the lower Z strut and has the ability to scan the entire surface of the test article/vehicle. A 3D image is produced from this scan in the form of a ‘mesh’.
Using ATE software a 2D frontal area silhouette image is produced. This then allows the blockage area to be calculated.
Option 3 - 3D utilising a separate room
This option operates in a similar way to option 2. A laser unit(s) is mounted at various pre-determined mounting points in the room. This allows the entire surface of the test article/vehicle to be scanned. By compiling the individual scan outputs, a 3 D image is produced to form of a ‘mesh’.
Using ATE software a 2D frontal area silhouette image is produced. This then allows the blockage area to be calculated.
This option requires several mounting points to be provided and potentially some method for raising the vehicle above the floor level.
