Wind Tunnel Study of a Large Aerostat

To further the development of larger and more capable aerostats at TCOM, an update to the aerodynamic database was needed. This lead to comprehensive wind tunnel testing conducted in the Glenn L. Martin (GLM) Wind Tunnel at the University of Maryland in 2010. Various studies included comparison to the historical database, wind speed effects, and configuration effects. The configuration effects included a lower fin anhedral angle study and obtaining the effects of each of the individual configuration modules in order to properly isolate each effect. The modules consist of the hull, windscreen, and fins. Test data obtained included force and moment coefficients, pressure distributions, and flow visualizations. This verified dataset will continue to improve and validate tools and analyses, including CFD and inputs to the FEM.