This was my primary senior Design Project. My team designed and built a system to enable the study of unsteady airflow using the Miami University 1'x1' low-speed Wind Tunnel. The system would oscillate an airfoil test section in both the pitching and plunging (vertical) axes to enable study of the resulting airflow. This was challenging because the entirety of the "pitching" system also must oscillate in the linear "Plunging" axis. I proposed a belt-driven concept that would remove the pitching system motor from the linear oscillating mass, but we rejected the idea due to complexity.
Based on research papers, I personally wrote all the frequency and structural requirements for the system based on the desire to study airflow at a Strouhal number of .2. I also did some hand calcs to set estimated aerodynamic loads. For the first design iteration, I maintained an excel spreadsheet to evaluate the forces under normal operation for all main structural and/or moving parts. I did the design and structural FEA analysis of the "Pitch Plate," which was a part designed to support our both our pitching-system motor and airfoil-mount through 1.5" amplitude oscillations up to 8 Hertz.
Later, we realized that we had confused a unit in our specification, and the actual frequencies required would be higher at a lower airspeed. This necessitated a frantic re-design of the system. The new system's higher frequencies meant that the oscillating mass would see up to 50 g's of acceleration. I suggested the incorporation of a "Boxer-engine" counter mass for momentum cancellation, updated the sheet to calculate the forces in our respective connecting rods, and found the motor torque required after adding the "boxer engine" counterbalance. I operated a manual mill, horizontal band saw, and various sheet metal tools to manufacture some of these parts. I also did some FEA analysis and mass-removal for the final version of the connecting rods, airfoil test section, and various iterations of our airfoil-mounting mast.