The Effect of Layer Thickness on Aerodynamic Characteristics of Wind Tunnel RP Models

Nowadays, rapid prototyping (RP) methods are widely used to produce wind tunnel testing models. Layer thickness is an important parameter that affects aerodynamic characteristics of wind tunnel models. This paper describes the effects of Layer thickness, using rapid prototyping, on aerodynamic coefficients to construct wind tunnel testing models. Three models were evaluated. These models were fabricated from ABSi by fused deposition method (FDM). The layer thickness was 0.178 mm, 0.254 mm and 0.33 mm. The surface roughness for each model was 25 μm, 63 μm and 160 μm (RZ) determined by PERTHOMETER2. A wing-body-tail configuration was chosen for the actual study. Testing covered the Mach no. range of Mach 0.3 to Mach 1.2 at an angle-of-attack range of -4° to +16° at zero sideslip. Coefficients of normal force, axial force, pitching moment, and lift over drag are shown at each of these mach numbers. Results from this study show that layer thickness does have effect on the aerodynamic characteristics; in general the difference between the data extracted from three models is less than 6 percent. The layer thickness does have more effect on the aerodynamic characteristics when mach number is decreased and has the most effect on the aerodynamic characteristics of axial force and its derivative coefficients.