Design studies in fluid dynamics: I - Development of a low-speed wind tunnel II - Hydrodynamics of the exhaust duct of a hydrokinetic turbine

This thesis examines the optimization of two internal fluid flow paths: the design of a low-speed, open-circuit wind tunnel and the evaluation of the pressure-recovery performance through the exhaust duct of the Carleton Hydrokinetic Turbine. The wind tunnel is designed to provide highly uniform, low-turbulence test section flow at lower velocities than the existing Carleton wind tunnels provide, with the design constrained by the available laboratory space. The exhaust duct of the Carleton Hydrokinetic Turbine creates a high rate of static pressure recovery downstream of the turbine assembly, for the purpose of increasing the power output of the turbine. The present study evaluates the sensitivity of the hydrodynamic performance of the exhaust duct to a range of geometric parameters specific to this design. These studies provide excellent examples of the use of state-of-the-art computational design tools in fluid engineering, and demonstrate the reliability of such tools for two substantially different applications.