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"Check the Flow" - Building a flow resistance box for testing the drag properties of differently shaped airplane profiles
Start date: Sep 1, 2014, End date: Aug 31, 2016 PROJECT  FINISHED 

In a globalized world economy it is evident that different components of complex technological products are planned, designed and manufactured in different locations all around the world. Of course, this is especially true for the aviation industry. In this industry there is a long tradition of European cooperation. The most prominent example for this is the Airbus consortium. In our project we will have a microcosm of the real world of the aviation industry in Europe. Like in real companies the success of the project will be challenged by many differences between the participating partners. These challenges can be divided into two sub-categories. At first there is the human factor which involves language barriers, differences in the approach to work, hierarchical structures and ways of communication. Secondly, there could be technical problems like different norms and tolerances and maybe different software programmes used for constructional and administrative purposes. To overcome all these challenges will be a central rationale of the project thus giving our students a first insight into the the real world of the aviation industry and their future job reality, where international - and especially European - cooperation will be a crucial part of their daily work. The concrete aim of the project "Check the flow" is to build a flow resistance box which will enable its users to enhance their know-how about the principles of aerodynamics and the aerodynamic properties of differently shaped bodies and airplane profiles. The students involved in this project are all trained to become aircraft mechanics or do similar jobs in the aviation industry in the future. To know about the principles of aerodynamics is a crucial part of their training and their future working life. The box and its interior parts will completely be designed and built by the students from the different partner schools. The components will be planned and designed by the help of CATIA (Computer Aided Three-dimensional Interactive Application), a software programme especially used by aeronautical companies. The frame will be made out of aluminium alloy. The fontal part of the box must be the window through which the user of the box can see, recognize and understand the different aerydynamic properties of the differently shaped bodies. Inside the box there will be a fluid. This fluid will consist of a mixture of sand and a liquid. Embedded in the fluid there will be different bodies, shaped like different types of airplane profiles. These profiles will be made out of wood or metal. Each school will produce at least one profile, painted in the colours of the respective national flag. On the profiles there will be magnets installed so that the profiles can be moved through the fluid from outside by using a magnetic pen. The whole device will be either attached to a wall or mounted to a trolley stand which would offer the possibility to move the box the box thus improving the possibility to employ it in different places. In the beginning of the second project year the project partners will get together to do the final assembly of the prototype. This prototype will be tested together by all project partners. The test results will be evaluated and the results of this evaluation will be used for the second project phase during which each school will produce their own flow resistance box. The final result of the project "Check the flow" will be six flow resistance boxes which will enable students and other users to learn about the principles of aerodynamics and the aerodynamic properties of differently shaped bodies and airplane profiles by moving the different profiles through an enclosed fluid inside the box. The project result will be disseminated to - the school families by presenting the project on conferences, Open Days and on the school websites. - the local and regional public by presenting the project on the school websites and placing reports in local and regional newspapers and online magazines. - interested schools from all over Europe by the presentation of the project on E-Twinning and OER. - all people using the Worldwide Web by the project website. A special opportunity for the dissemination of the project results to a professional audience is the ADM trade fair in Seville in June 2016. This multiplier event will raise the attention for our project to a more professional level and will show the students involved in the project that they are part of an innovative and truly international industry. The flow resistance boxes will be used in the lessons of future aircraft mechanic classes and other classes with a technical focus at each of the partner schools. It is also suitable as marketing instrument at Open Days, Education Fairs and similar events for raising the interest of younger students for the aircraft mechanic training programmes and the participating schools in general.
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