Small Scale Subsonic Wind Tunnel

Capstone Design | 3D CAD → 3D Printing → Assembly → Testing

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Small scale subsonic wind tunnel CAD, fabricated parts, and smoke visualization photos
Small scale subsonic wind tunnel CAD, fabricated parts, and smoke visualization photos
Small scale subsonic wind tunnel CAD, fabricated parts, and smoke visualization photos
Small scale subsonic wind tunnel CAD, fabricated parts, and smoke visualization photos
Small scale subsonic wind tunnel CAD, fabricated parts, and smoke visualization photos
Small scale subsonic wind tunnel CAD, fabricated parts, and smoke visualization photos
Why

Wind tunnels in Indonesia are typically large, fixed installations concentrated in a handful of institutions, making hands-on aerodynamic testing largely inaccessible for most engineering students, including myself.

What

Designed and built a compact, low-cost, open-circuit wind tunnel as an educational visualization tool for university students, portable enough for use in either a lab or classroom setting, making hands-on aerodynamics learning more accessible.

How
  • Modeled the full geometry in Autodesk Inventor.
  • Fabricated entirely by FDM 3D printing using PLA+ on a Bambu Lab X1, epoxy-bonded.
  • Integrated a 65 W speed-controlled axial fan (9 inch) with a fog machine and copper smoke rake for visualization.
Autodesk InventorFDM 3D PrintingPLA+Flow Visualization
Result
  • Working tunnel with steady, controllable airflow (7.4 m/s in the test section).
  • Smoke visualization clearly resolved streamlines and flow separation over an airfoil.