Integration of Three-Dimensional Printing Technology for Wind-Tunnel Model Fabrication

Nowadays, rapid manufacturing techniques have opened a new era in aerospace industry. Wind-tunnel testing models have the most application in this industry, and different manufacturing techniques are used for production purposes. For the purpose of aerodynamics experiments, a number of different testing models may be needed to be manufactured. Airfoils are such parts that are complex and time consuming from a manufacturing point of view. At present, a new manufacturing technique has facilitated manufactures with a complex geometry, and it is now possible to replace traditional methods by this technology. In this research an airfoil model, which belongs to a missile, has been manufactured using a three-dimensional printing technology, and has been compared with a model which has been manufactured using traditional methods. The comparison is made from such aspects as the surface quality, dimensional accuracy and aerodynamics coefficients. Results reveal difference between the fabrication airfoil and the metal model due to the fact that the fabrication airfoil is different with respect to the surface quality and dimensional accuracy. Therefore, a significant difference in some of the aerodynamics coefficients can be observed. It can be concluded from this research that, the manufactured models using a three-dimensional printing method can be used for primary tests, being less expensive and requiring significantly less time to build.