Gust Characterization and Generation for Wind Tunnel Testing of Micro Aerial Vehicles

The small scale of micro aerial vehicles (MAVs) provide the somewhat unique capability of full scale Reynolds numbers testing in a wind tunnel. However, that same small scale tends to create interactions under real world flight conditions, atmospheric gusts for example, that lead to a desire to test under more complex flows than the standard uniform flow found in most wind tunnels. Generation of lateral, vertical and longitudinal disturbances in a tunnel yields additional information about many aircraft parameters including control response issues. Furthermore, the ability to characterize the entire flowfield in the test section makes it possible to determine how a free flying model reacts to gusts found in nature. An analytical model for both discrete gusts and a continuous spectrum of gusts is examined. Then, methods for generating gusts in agreement with that model are investigated. Previously used methods are reviewed and a gust generation apparatus is designed. Expected turbulence and gust characteristics of this apparatus are compared with atmospheric data. Additional applications of this apparatus including wind turbines, the study of insect and bird flight, and aerodynamic studies related to the automotive industry are presented.