Development of a Closed Circuit Wind Tunnel with the help of CFD

Abstract

In order to assist in the design of the aerodynamic shape of a closed circuit wind tunnel, which was built at the Institute for Building Science and Technology (IBST) in Vietnam, a flow analysis was conducted using CFD. The analysis was performed to find out the optimum shape for the wind tunnel. Given the limited length of the wind tunnel within the laboratory, combined with other requirements, a concept design was proposed with two rapid turning diffusers, a contraction cone, and an extended test section. This paper presents the CFD study for the contraction cone and extended test section. The CFD results have been validated with a physical scale model before being used successfully in the construction of the wind tunnel. Measurement data of the built wind tunnel is also presented for comparison. It can be concluded that CFD analysis is a useful tool for optimizing the aerodynamic shape of wind tunnels.