Applied Aerodynamics Laboratory
Western Michigan University's Applied Aerodynamics Laboratory, located at the Kalamazoo International Airport, is operated by the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. The laboratory houses the Advanced Design Wind Tunnel, the Small Wind Tunnel (SWT), and the GM Wind Tunnel (to be set up) and a small turbine engine test cell. The Applied Aerodynamics Laboratory conducts research in measurement techniques and experimental and applied aerodynamics. The lab has close collaborations with WMU's Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Computational Fluid Dynamics Laboratory and other related departments at WMU.
The selected topics include the following:
- Pressure and temperature sensitive paints in aerodynamics
- Fluid flow and optical flow: general framework for global flow diagnostics
- Geometric and kinematic aspects of image-based measurements
- Global luminescent oil-film skin friction meter
- Skin friction topology in complex separated flows
- Extraction of skin friction fields from surface flow visualizations as an inverse problem
- Analytical and numerical inverse methods for determining heat flux in TSP measurements in hypersonic wind tunnels
- Videogrammetry and vision for aerospace applications
- Airfoil/wing flow control using trailing edge devices
- Aeroship: hybrid fight platform for personal, near-space and planetary flight
- Scaling analysis of propeller-driven mars aircraft
- Flapping flight: scaling, geometry, kinematics, aerodynamics, design and testing\
- Wind oscillator for power generation
- Fluid mechanics of deposition of micron droplets on wall in turbulent flows
Contact
Fax: (269) 276-3421
Testing Capabilities of The Applied Aerodynamics Laboratory
GM Wind Tunnel (BRWT) (to be set up)
Image-based Aerodynamic Measurement Techniques
JR3 Balance for Ground Vehicle Testing
Measurement Uncertainty of Force Coefficient