

          TunnelSys Design  Application



This is the beta 1.0h version of the NASA Glenn TunnelSys Design application
program, and you are invited to participate in the beta testing. If
you find any errors in the program or would like to suggest
improvements, please send an e-mail to Thomas.J.Benson@nasa.gov.

With this software you can investigate the design of a wind tunnel model
by changing the geometry of a representative wing model.

TunnelSys is a series of three Java applications which students can use to
explore the process of wind tunel testing. In wind tunnel testing, an engineer must 
first design and build a wind tunnel model with all of the appropriate instrumentation included.
The model is then placed in the tunnel test section and air is blown over the model. 
The instrumentation records the desired information for the model designer. 
The engineer who conducts the wind tunnel test is not normally the same person 
who designed the model, but someone who is a specialist at wind tunnel operation.
The data from the test normally goes to a third engineer who performs the necessary
data reduction and produces performance plots for the initial engineer. 

RUNNING THE APPLICATION

This program is a Java application and you must have the Java JDK installed on your computer
to operate the program. An application works differently than a Java applet
available on the Internet. This program runs "stand-alone" and can read and write
files to your computer. To launch the program, you need to know the PATH to the
folder where the program has been extracted. The PATH will be something like
C:\My Programs\TunnelSys\design
To launch the application, go to C:\      
Assuming you have Java installed on your computer, type this command:

    java -cp (the PATH) Design

for our example PATH, this would look like:

    java -cp My Programs\TunnelSys\design Design


GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

This program is designed to be interactive, so you have to work with the program.
There are a variety of choices which you must make regarding the display
of results by using a choice box. A choice box has a descriptive word displayed and an arrow at 
the right of the box. To make a choice, click on the arrow, hold down and drag to
make your selection. The current values of the design variables are presented to you in boxes.
By convention, a white box with black numbers is an input box and you can change the value of the number. 
A black box with yellow numbers is an output box and the value is computed by the program.
To change the value in an input box, select the box by moving the cursor into the box
and clicking the mouse, then backspace over the old number, enter a new number,
then hit the <Enter> key on your keyboard. 

You must hit Enter to send the new value to the program.

For most input variables you can also use a slider located next to the input box.
Click on the slider bar, hold down and drag the slider bar to change values, or
you can click on the arrows at either end of the slider.
If you experience difficulties when using the sliders to change variables,
simply click away from the slider and then back to it. If
the arrows on the end of the sliders disappear, click in the areas
where the left and right arrow images should appear, and they should reappear.
At any time, to return to the original default conditions,
click the magenta <b>Reset</b> button at the lower left of the program.

SCREEN LAYOUT

The program screen is divided into three main parts:

      On the top left side of the screen is the View Window.
      The view window includes a graphic of the wing model that you are
      designing and a slider which control the graphic.
      Details of the window are given in the "Graphics" section below.
  
      On the right side of the screen is an Engineering Drawing of your model.
      The size and scale of the model is given at the bottom of the panel.
      Clicking on the words "Double" and "Half" will change the size of the picture.
            
      On the lower left side of the screen is the Input/Output Panel.
      Details of the vatiables are given in "I/O Varibles" below 

GRAPHICS

The View Window contains a computer drawing of the wing model that you are designing 
and some controls for the schematic drawing. You can move the picture within the window 
by moving the cursor into the window, holding down the left mouse button, and dragging the model
to a new location. You can also "Zoom" in close to the model by using
the green slider at the left of the window. If you get lost, pushing
the yellow <b>Find</b> button will return the model to the initial position.

I/O VARIABLES
   
The input/output variables are located on the panel that is displayed at the lower left.
There are four input variables; the type of airfoil, the camber (curvature),
thickness, and chord (distance from leading edge to trailing edge) of the wing.
The span (distance from wing tip to wing tip) is fixed to fit inside the wind tunnel. 
As you vary any of the input variables, the resulting geometry is shown in the
view window and the drawing window. Output from the program includes the
wing projected area and the aspect ratio which is the ratio of span to chord.
Calculations can be performed in either Imperial or Metric units by using the choice button
at the bottom of the page.
 
SAVING RESULTS

You will want to save your design in order to pass the information to the 
the wind tunnel program for testing. Designs are saved in files on your computer.
There are two types of files that can be saved from the Design Program; a data file that 
is used as input to the Wind Tunnel Test Program, and a printed file for your records.

You can enter a "Label" that will appear on the printed file by using the text box on the I/O panel.

For the Data file, click on the blue "Data File" button. This will open a "browser" that you can use to
locate and name the data file. The form of this browser depends on your particular operating system.
We recommend that you create some naming conventions so that you can easily find your files.
You may want to create a special directory for each student. When you return from the browser,
the path to your data file will be entered into the text box to the left of the "Data File" button.
You then must click "Open Data" to open the file and begin the data acquisition process.

A similar procedure is used to name and open the "Print File".  It is not necessary to create and
open a print file. The print file is just for your records.

With the data files open, clicking on "Save Data" will save all the information necessary to test your
wing with th eWind Tunnel Test Program. You can save up to 40 wing designs.

To close the Design Program click on the "Exit" button.