CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Wind tunnel is a large tube with air moving inside which is used to
copy the actions of an object in flight. In wind tunnel air moves around an
object, so the object seems like really flying. Although the form of a wind
tunnel can vary, all wind tunnels have a high pressure system, heater, settling
chamber and a test section. Air is compressed and stored in the high pressure
system. It is released through a pressure regulating valve to create the desired
pressure in the settling chamber. In high speed wind tunnels, heater is used to
heat the air while passing through the heater bed to avoid liquefaction when it
is expanded through the nozzle to get high Mach numbers. Scaled models of
aircraft or space craft are placed in the test section for testing as shown in
Figure 1.1. Some wind tunnels are big enough to hold full- scale versions of
vehicles.

Figure 1.1: Wind tunnel with the model of a plane.

(Courtesy : Wikipedia)

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 Air is blown or sucked through a duct equipped with a viewing port
and instrumentation where models or geometrical shapes are mounted for
study. The movement of air through the tunnel is done by using a series of
fans, which are usually powered by stationary turbo rather than electric
motors. Vertical and horizontal air vanes make the turbulent air flow smooth,
before reaching the test section. The cross section of the tunnel is circular to
provide a smoother air flow. The smooth inner surface reduces the surface
drag. The circular walls of the tunnel are usually embedded with light, which
shines through the windows.

Pressure taps are included in the model for measuring pressure. Lift,
drag, yaw, roll, lateral forces and pitching moments over a range of angle of
attack can be measured by a force balance mounted on the model. The
movement of air around the model is difficult to observe directly, since air is
transparent. Different flow visualization methods have been developed for
testing in a wind tunnel. Tufts attached to the model during testing can be
used to gauge air flow. Another method is by using evaporating suspensions,
where the liquid evaporates leaving behind the clay in the pattern
characteristic of the air flow. Applying oil to the surface of the model can
show the transition from laminar to turbulent flow as well as flow separation.
Smoke or bubbles of liquid can be introduced into the airflow upstream of the
test model, so that their path around the model can be photographed.

1.1 TYPES OF WIND TUNNEL

Wind tunnels can be classified based on air flow speed in test section
and based on shape. Flow speed in wind tunnel is generally referred in terms
of Mach number. Mach number is a dimensionless quantity representing the
ratio of speed of an object moving through a medium and the local speed of

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sound. Based on flow speed, wind tunnels are classified as Subsonic,
Transonic, Supersonic and Hypersonic.

In Subsonic or low speed wind tunnels flow speed in terms of Mach

number comes out to be around 0.4. These types of wind tunnels are most cost
effective due to the simplicity of the design and low wind speed. Generally
low speed wind tunnels are used in schools and universities because of low
budget. Maximum velocity in test section of transonic wind tunnels can reach
up to speed of sound i.e. 340m/s or Mach number of 1. They are very
common in aircraft industry as most aircrafts operate around this speed.
Velocity of air in test section of Supersonic wind tunnels wind tunnels can be
up to Mach 5. This is accomplished using convergent or divergent nozzles
and the power requirements for such wind tunnels are very high.

Hypersonic wind tunnels can have wind velocity in test section

between Mach 5 and Mach 15. This is also achieved using convergent -
divergent nozzles. They are used to test ultra fast air craft and space vehicles.
The technological problems in designing and constructing a hyper-velocity
wind tunnel are supply of high temperatures and pressures for times long
enough to perform a measurement, reproduction of equilibrium conditions,
structural damage produced by overheating, fast instrumentation and power
requirements to run the tunnel.

Based on shape, wind tunnels are classified as Open circuit wind

tunnel and Closed circuit wind tunnel. Open circuit wind tunnel is open at
both ends. The chances of dirt particles entering with air are more and so
more honeycombs (mesh to clean incoming air) are required for cleaning the
air. Open type wind tunnels can further be divided into two categories:
Suckdown tunnel and Blower tunnel. In Suckdown tunnel, the inlet open to
atmosphere and the axial fan or centrifugal blower is connected after the test

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section. These types of wind tunnels are not preferred because incoming air
enters with significant swirl. In blower tunnel a blower is installed at the inlet
of wind tunnel which throws the air into wind tunnel.

For supersonic and hypersonic type wind tunnel, the desired speed
cannot be attained with the help of a blower. Hence a tank with high air
pressure is maintained and the flow is obtained by releasing the air from this
high pressure system. Outlet of closed circuit wind tunnel is connected to inlet
and so the same air circulates in the system in a regulated way. The chances
of dirt entering the system are very low. Closed wind tunnels have more
uniform flow compared to open type. Closed tunnel is usually a choice for
large wind tunnels as these are more costly than open type wind tunnels.

1.2 RELEVANCE OF WIND TUNNEL

One of the main aims of using a wind tunnel is to learn more about air
planes and how things move through air and thereby improving air
transportation. It helps scientists to make aircraft better and safer. New
materials or shapes for airplane parts can be tested before flying in a wind
tunnel to make it sure it will fly as it should.

Wind tunnels are also used to test spacecraft and rockets, which are
made to operate in space, where there is no atmosphere. They have to travel
through the atmosphere before entering the space. Vehicles that take humans
into space also must come back through the atmosphere to Earth. The wind
tunnel is a major money saver. It allows us to make a reusable prototype and
test it in the tunnel at low cost.

Wind tunnels are important in making the new Ares rockets and Orion
space shuttle which are vehicles that will take astronauts into space. Ares

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rockets were planned for using to launch Orion, which is the spacecraft
intended for NASA human spaceflight missions. NASA engineers tested ideas
for the design of Ares in wind tunnels, to see how well Ares would fly.
Engineers tested Orion models to know what would happen to different
designs when the spacecraft came back through the atmosphere.

Wind tunnels can even help engineers design spacecraft to work on

other worlds. Mars has a thin atmosphere and it is important to know what the
Martian atmosphere will do to vehicles that are landing there. Parachutes and
spacecraft designs are tested in wind tunnels set up to be like the Martian
atmosphere.

In modern automotive design, the aerodynamic design plays an

important role, which determines vehicle’s fuel consumption, stability, engine
cooling, interior cabin noise and windshield-wiper performance. Wind tunnel
simulations allow engineers to study these aerodynamic loads during a newly
designed vehicle’s development process.

Wind tunnels are used in Wind Engineering, to measure the velocity

around and pressure or forces upon structures. Specialized atmospheric
boundary layer wind tunnels are used to analyze the wind speed and
turbulence profile acting on very tall buildings, buildings with complicated or
unusual shapes like a hyperbolic or parabolic shape, cable suspension bridges
or cable stayed bridges.

Aerodynamics are important in almost every sports ie, from ball games
like golf, baseball, soccer, football and tennis to athletics, alpine skiing, cross-
country skiing, ski jumping, cycling, motor sport and many others, where the
performance results in the optimal motion of the athlete (multi-jointed
mechanical system) and/or is equipment (solid system) in the air. Athletes can

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assess the aerodynamic efficiency of the motor task performed by him with
accuracy and in almost real time in a wind tunnel, which help them to focus
on specific aspects of his technical behavior to improve his performance.

Thus wind tunnels are an excellent example of a technological

innovation that supports aircraft and space craft design. They are not simply a
tube or box with a fan blowing air but are carefully designed and constructed
(and often very large) laboratory instruments. Without constant research in
wind tunnel technology, aeronautical research would have ground to a
standstill decades ago.

1.3 NEED FOR PROPER CONTROLLER IN A WIND TUNNEL

The wind tunnel in this thesis is Hypersonic Blowdown type, which

can hit hypersonic speeds of up to 12 Mach numbers. Here there is a high
pressure system, from which air is released using a pressure regulating valve,
to get the desired flow in the test section. To get the hypersonic speed in the
test section, the mass flow rate of the air in the test section has to be
maintained constant. Mass flow rate is the mass of a substance which passes
through a given surface per unit of time. To attain constant mass flow rate, the
pressure in the settling chamber, whose output is given to the test section has
to be maintained constant. This can be achieved by controlling the opening of
pressure regulating valve. So it is needed to design a controller, which will
regulate the operation of the control valve, to get a constant pressure in the
settling chamber. The controller has to act within few seconds, since the
system exists for very short duration.

To obtain accurate, stable air flow and to provide proper operation of

the HWT system an efficient controller is required. As the system behavior is
changing with time, the controller has to adapt itself to the changes in

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operating environment. PI or PID controllers (conventional controllers) are
suitable for linear systems. For nonlinear systems, we can use conventional
controllers only if the operating range is limited. It will give satisfactory
response only at the point of linearization. Its performance degrades as the
operating point moves away from the point of linearization. Artificial Neural
Network based adaptive controllers are not suitable as they take more time to
learn the system behavior through weight updation. Scheduled adaptive
controllers are not practicable in this case since scheduling the control by
forming a lookup table is tedious. As the system behavior is changing from
time to time, a perfect lookup table can only be constructed with infinite
entries. Self tuning regulators (STR) are based on a parameter estimator and
its performance heavily depends on the robustness of the estimation algorithm
used. Model reference adaptive controllers can be a reasonable solution in
such a situation. But its performance also depends on the reference model
used. If we incorporate fast adaptation techniques with conventional
controllers it can be a reasonable solution.

1.4 OBJECTIVES

The main objectives of this thesis work are

To simulate the operation of a Hypersonic Wind Tunnel (HWT) and to

study its behavior and non linearity.

To design and implement different controllers for the process which

satisfies the following requirements.

o To bring the pressure in the settling chamber of a HWT to the

desired value in less than 10 sec.

o To increase the test duration as longer as possible.

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 o To make the overshoot of the system less than 20%.

o To minimize the error during test time.

o To reduce the effect of external disturbance as low as possible

in terms of error and settling time.

And finally, to suggest a controller which meets all/ most of the above
requirements for the HWT.

1.5 METHODOLOGY

Several procedural steps are followed to achieve the objective of this

research work. Initially the mathematical model of the HWT is simulated
using the simulink tool in MATLab. The model developed is validated and
nonlinearity of the system is analyzed. Further, different non linear controllers
for the process are designed and simulated, for different set points.
Performances of all these controllers were evaluated through the servo and
regulator operation. A detailed analysis of the performance parameters were
done for all these different controllers and finally, the optimum controller for
the process is suggested.

The framework for solving the problem defined above is shown in

Figure1.2.

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 Figure 1.2 Block diagram of proposed work

1.6 ORGANIZATION OF THE THESIS

The rest of the thesis is organized as follows.

A comprehensive review of literature on the wind tunnel and various

controllers are presented in Chapter 2. The literature survey on historical
background of wind tunnel is also included in this chapter.

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 Chapter 3 provides the detailed information on the system model of
hypersonic wind tunnel along with the validity of the model and its analysis
of nonlinearity. In this chapter the need for controller and its analysis are also
discussed.

Chapter 4 describes the PI controller design methodology for

Hypersonic Wind Tunnel. The performance evaluation of the PI controller is
done and is presented along with the simulation results.

Chapter 5 discusses the application of Fuzzy technique for assisting the

PI controller. Performance analysis and evaluation of the controller is also
made here.

Chapter 6 covers the Backstepping controller design techniques for

regulating pressure in a HWT. The techniques discussed in this chapter are
the tracking and stabilizing designs of Backstepping controller, and also the
combination of Backstepping with Fuzzy controller. The servo and regulator
operation of the controller is simulated and the results are tabulated for
performance evaluation.

Chapter 7 contains the design and evaluation of the single stage and
two stage Cascade controllers. The chapter summarizes the performance of
two stage cascade controller.

Chapter 8 presents performance analysis of the Model Reference

Fuzzy Adaptive PI Controller along with Model Reference Fuzzy Cascade
Controller.

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 The performance evaluations of these controllers were done by
applying servo and regulator operations for different set points. The
simulation results of each controller are analyzed in the respective chapters.

The chapter 9 gives the comparative analysis of the controller’s

performance, summary of work done and the contribution of the work.

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