Joseph Flanagan Capstone
The project I chose to do for my Capstone was to improve upon the wind tunnel that is used in CTE Engineering. A wind tunnel is a testing system that can simulate an object in flight that is commonly used in aerospace engineering fields. At the beginning of the year, the wind tunnel was nothing more than a wooden tunnel with a fan at the end and it was my job to improve upon it. This project required a lot of research and also funding from Braskem. My improvements included a system to test lift and drag, a large contractor and diffuser to create a higher wind speed, and a flow visualization system that uses smoke to show how air interacts with the object. This project taught me a lot about wind tunnels and the physics behind them, how to use a 3D modeling software to create what I need, how to use the 3D printer and the laser cutter, and how to work through a massive project over a long period of time. My final product is a functional wind tunnel that will be used in CTE Engineering to help students learn about aerospace engineering.
Link to my annotated bibliography: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1S-XmrO7V6_UPeks_sV3KXZGDeXkwOhrh3CQHroRIPmo/edit?usp=sharing