Fluid Mechanics; Applied Mathematics; Soft matter; Biophysics
One-day Short Course for engineering students from all over Kerala, India.
The process of designing aerodynamic structures is inherently iterative. This course is intended for the beginner who wishes to understand the math, theory, history and experimental steps in the design of an optimised airfoil. At the end of the course, the students tests a NACA0012 airfoil in the Subsonic wind tunnel at College of Engineering Trivandrum, and compare measured pressure distribution data with their CFD results.
This is a comprehensive introduction to the underlying mathematics and design process of choosing the best fit airfoil section for a particular application. The math is developed and applied. An overview of the NACA families and their applications is given. The process of choosing the right foil from the existing databases is charted out. The session ends with a practical exercise. This is followed by a CAD and CFD workshop to analyse the foil.
The afternoon session is a wind tunnel workshop. A NACA 0012 foil is tested in the lab and the pressure distribution is compared with the CFD results from the forenoon session. Furthermore, a comprehensive timeline of the development of various experimental methods is introduced.