The Design and Manufacturing of a Towing Tank for Experimental Fluid Mechanics

This paper documents the design, analysis, and construction of a towing tank suitable for experimental studies within a Reynolds number less than approximately 500,000, for test models of varying shape. The design and manufacturing of a towing tank provides Arizona State University with laboratory equipment for experimental fluid mechanics. The design consists of a 3-meter-long, 0.5-meter-wide, and 0.8-meter-high cast acrylic tank with aluminum welded-frame supports. There is a pulling mechanism consisting of a belt drive and linear rail guide system that will be positioned on top of the tank. The pulling mechanism is currently in the prototype development stage. The prototype serves as a proof of concept for the final design, as data has been collected and analyzed using MATLAB, resolving the drag force of a submerged test model. This paper demonstrates the design process, prototype development, and construction of the towing tank. The original goal of this research was to answer questions about optimization of a swimmer’s technique by providing strong experimental results and deep analysis of the factors affecting performance. However, there were tasks along the way that shifted the focus from experimentation and analysis to design and manufacturing.