A labview based optimization of supersonic wind tunnel instrumentation systems

Indonesian National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN) has got a supersonic wind tunnel aimed at conducting research in high-speed motion object. In the past, the condition made the access on LAPAN' s supersonic wind tunnel limited; which also made this device could only be used for the shockwave observation utilizing the schlieren apparatus. As a consequence, the data acquisition system could not collect data from sting balance; as some of the control panels were either a non-operational or in need of calibration. Based on these conditions, this research was conducted in order to develop a new integrated control system and data acquisition. Furthermore, the system was built based on the PXIe module from National Instrument and LabVIEW graphical programming which was used as the user interface, so that it could achieve the effectiveness of operation in terms of the time and the better data quality. In the recently developed system, the angle of attack (AoA) control— which was operated manually in the past—had been optimized into a digital control using a PID control method. As the AoA control had successfully become automated, there is a new testing option for moving the AoA; while the wind tunnel is running. In terms of data acquisition, the result after the optimization shows that it can collect better data (the noise /interference becomes smaller than the previous data), and now the data from the balance, the pressure data, the AoA position, and block position can be recorded.