Wind Tunnel Testing

Wind Tunnel Testing

Wind tunnel testing is conducted primarily to gather information about flying quality (drag, lift, stability and handling characteristics) of aircraft, spacecraft, rockets and missiles. Automobiles, sailboats, skyscrapers and suspension bridges are also tested in a tunnel to study their behavior in heavy wind. In a wind tunnel air is blown at the desired speed over the model of the object being tested held in the test section instead of the object moving through the still air. Air is accelerated through the contraction cone at the front of the tunnel before moving into the test section to flow over the instrumented model and then go through the diffuser either to be let out to the atmosphere in case of a open circuit tunnel or led back to the entrance in case of closed circuit tunnel. Powerful fan driven by electric motor provides the suction necessary for the airflow. For a brief history and operation of wind tunnels visit NASA's web site. The larger the test section, larger model can be tested and quality of the data collected will be significantly improved. Depending on the design test speed (which can reach a few times the speed of sound), wind tunnels have been constructed with a test section that is a few square inches to giant 80' x 120' at NASA Ames Research Center that can accommodate many full scale aircraft. The photo above shows replica of Wright brothers' FLYER being ready for testing at NASA 40' x 80' tunnel in 1999. The photos on the right show other models being tested at various NASA tunnels. Can you recognize any one of them? Check your answers with the correct ones. Albany State University's FLOTEK 1440 wind tunnel is a subsonic open circuit tunnel with a test section of 12" x 12" x 36" capable of reaching a maximum wind speed of 90 mph at the test section. The tunnel speed and model angle of attack can be controlled manually or from a computer connected to the tunnel by LabVIEW software. The software also allows researcher to control the tunnel from remote location and display data in real time in the monitor. Although, we cannot accommodate request from individuals for running the ASU wind tunnel from remote location, we invite schools and other educational institutions to experience the excitement of wind tunnel testing from their classroom. NOTE: - A special software has to be downloaded to the remote computer and prior arrangement has to be made by contacting Dr. A. Sinha (asinha@asurams.edu, Phone: 229-430-4820) so that tunnel would be ready to be controlled from the remote location. If you have already completed all arrangements, start the test now.