Aerospace takes the fierce air speeds of a tornado, or vortex, and tames the tornadic winds by creating the cyclic phenomena in water.
Manjul Gupta, graduate student in aerospace engineering, is able to use the dense quality of water to create a vortex in water at a speed of only .2 meters per second.
The vortex is created by the turbulence off the tip of a small-scale airplane wing pitched at four degrees from the natural flow plane.
A pitch of four degrees would allow a normal airplane to slowly climb higher, called its angle of attack.
There has to be an angle of attack to form a vortex, Gupta said.
Gupta uses a wing that is four inches wide.
The width of the wing is the chord length of the wing.
"I am trying to simulate a real aircraft," Gupta said. "You go for water because it has a high density. I am testing in water to equal and simulate the aircraft."
Gupta is trying to achieve the Reynolds number, which is the number that gives her equality of simulation in differing environments, water vs. air.
Once Gupta finds the Reynolds number for her simulation, she sets the water speed accordingly and her research there begins.
A normal aircraft trails a vortex 100 chord lengths long, Gupta said.
The vortex forces airplanes to land at certain time intervals apart because the vortex is too unstable for a plane to fly through.
Gupta's goal is to manipulate the vortex using an oscillating fin at the tip of the wing to make the vortex instable.
The small fin flips up and down in a 2-dimensional motion.
Once Gupta masters her plan, she should obtain an instable vortex of eight to 10 chord lengths long.
This will allow airplanes to land and takeoff at closer time intervals.
Hamza Ahmed, doctorate student in aerospace engineering, is unofficially in charge of the water tunnel.
"I am her technical support 24/7," Hamza said.
Anwar Ahmed, professor in aerospace engineering, is Gupta's adviser.
"She is working on a rather complex problem," Ahmed said. "Manjul is a very hard-working student."
Gupta has been researching on her vortex for nine months.
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