Design and Fabrication of a Supersonic Wind Tunnel

Bhavin K Bharath

This work proposes to design and fabricate a supersonic wind tunnel that can be operated using the compressor and pressure vessel having a capacity of 1000 litres and a maximum storage pressure of 12bar. Test section size and the operating Mach number of the wind tunnel is designed so that the tunnel can operate for 30 sec using the air stored in this pressure vessel. The design is based on the assumptions of 2D in viscid flow and normal shock pressure recovery in the diffuser. The tunnel designed according to these criteria has a design Mach number of 2.5 and an 80mm × 20 mm rectangular test section. Calibration of this facility was also carried out by measuring the static pressure in the test section, which shows a test section Mach number of 2.14.