PROJECT TYPE
Mechanical Engineering Design and Improvement
CHALLENGE
Welland-based Niagara Composites designs and manufactures custom composite bows for wire twisting applications worldwide. It wanted to create a new product called the Viper Bow System and sought help from the College’s Research & Innovation team. The product is believed to revolutionize the wire-spinning industry, by increasing the rate of wire-production, reducing noise output in industrial settings, and lowering electricity consumption.
SOLUTION
Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to virtually test the aerodynamic profile of a wire-spinning bow. Several designs were created and tested, and from all of the designs, the one that replicated the side-profile of an airplane’s wing was the best. The profile had practically no flow separation on the trailing edge and did not have a velocity spike at the leading edge. This combination of design characteristics will lead to a greatly reduced amount of drag on the bow profile and reduce noise generated by the bow.