Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics Commons^™

Ram Air-Turbine Of Minimum Drag, Raymond Akagi

Master's Theses

The primary motivation for this work was to predict the conditions that would yield minimum drag for a small Ram-Air Turbine used to provide a specified power requirement for a small flight test instrument called the Boundary Layer Data System. Actuator Disk Theory was used to provide an analytical model for this work.

Classic Actuator Disk Theory (CADT) or Froude’s Momentum Theory was initially established for quasi-one-dimensional flows and inviscid fluids to predict the power output, drag, and efficiency of energy-extracting devices as a function of wake and freestream velocities using the laws of Conservations of Mass, Momentum, and Energy. …

Hot-Wire Anemometer For The Boundary Layer Data System, William D. Neumeister

Master's Theses

Hot-wire anemometry has been routinely employed for laboratory measurements of turbulence for decades. This thesis presents a hot-wire anemometer suitable for use with the Boundary Layer Data System (BLDS). BLDS provides a unique platform for in- flight measurements because of its small, self-contained, robust design and flexible architecture. Addition of a hot-wire anemometer would provide BLDS with a sensor that could directly measure flow velocity fluctuations caused by turbulence. Hot-wires are commonly operated in constant-temperature mode for high frequency response, but require a carefully tuned bridge. The constant-voltage anemometer (CVA) uses a simple op-amp circuit to improve frequency response over …

Cal Poly Flight Test Platform For Instrument Development, Kyle Schaller, Ian Muceus, Aaron Ells

Aerospace Engineering

This report summarizes a six month effort to conceptually design, develop, and build an unmanned aerial vehicle to test a boundary layer data system (BLDS) developed by Dr. Russell Westphal and his team of mechanical engineering senior design students. The project is funded by Edwards Air Force Base and the United States Air Force Research Laboratory. During the first Cal Poly quarter of project work, January 4, 2010 to March 18, 2010, the team completed a conceptual and preliminary design. During the second quarter, March 18, 2010 to June 12, 2010, the team completed the construction and initial flight test …