Aerodynamic table

I have idea to create table with fan to check some sail shapes.
Surely someone has tried it before.
Recently I spotted my brilliant "invention" of combining an outboard motor with a kick rudder in a magazine from the 50s.

 

Are you describing a wind tunnel?

 

Yes.Flat surface is to simulate water surface. I have two centrifugal fans which I can direct parallel to the table. Eventually I will add some straightening stators. Scale is small. Fan outlet cross section is about 9"x 4" / 23cm x 10cm. I have two of them I will put them next to each other. What next ?

 

Scale is a viscous beast in this realm but it's probably worth the effort to help discern some relationships.

 

That is a really tiny section area. It may give useful results for RC boats.

 

Probably yes. But you can always check some angles
and strange sail shapes. I think it's better than nothing.

 

One very important thing...Since you are simulating a moving sail, the apparent wind profile in height shall be twisted, in conjunction with TWA, TWS, and boat speed.
To recreate this effect, I strongly recommend to get inspiration from the twisted flow tunnel, in Auckland. See the lames, with variable width and twist ? This is what is required to get a correct estimation of the moments acting on your model.

 

I know that the tunnel is better.
I can only check some static forces. Compare when the force is greater. Use some smoke maybe to see the effect of one sail on the other.

 

Thewind tunnel is the easy and cheaper part. Measuring instruments and data gathering is where the money gets spent.

 

I'm not familiar with computers , math , always trying to use redneck approach . There are some spring dynamometers.
I like pure mechanical solutions . Generations of people have used technical solutions without computers .
Life is too short to read about old technical solutions. Some are just brilliant.They sometimes had to think a lot more than we do now.

 

Pun intended? I could see both vicious and viscous working in that sentence, and both meaning the same thing if viscosity is one of the variables affected by scale.

 

Then you could take inspiration in this kind of stuff :
https://youtube.com/shorts/lDO_hC2gUnk?si=cdg1hGp1Yd6RN2GA

Put smoke, blinking LED, do not forget a fancy look....put everything in it... Measure nothing with it...

 

With a little more DIY spirit, you could also take exemple in G. Eiffel, that has (with his team of course) established a very famous catalogue of aérodynamique shapes, by throwing stuff from the top of his Eiffel tower and measuring flight Time...
No mechanical Spring, no mechanics at all. A dream isn't it... Ah... Of course, you have to do some kind of mathematics, read some stuff about physics... But seems you are not this type of guy, are you ?

 

Didn't know about aerodynamique research of Gustave Eiffel .I know that Reynolds number exist. Why I'm convinced then to make that aero something ?
Btw. Eiffel tower is very close to my boats designs.

 

I also like practical things. It remembers me some much of the movie "Wind", with tank testing in the river and so on...