Advanced Design Wind Tunnel
Â鶹´«Ã½'s applied aerodynamics laboratory took over the advanced design wind tunnel from the former McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company (now the Boeing Company at St. Louis) and had it installed at the current location since 1999. The ADWT provides the opportunity for fundamental aerodynamic studies and efficient optimization of aerodynamic configuration through the use of small scale, easily fabricated and modified wind tunnel models with very low operating costs and a minimum of operating personnel.
The wind tunnel is a low-speed, closed-circuit single return, atmospheric tunnel with a test section of 32 inches high, 45 inches wide, and 8 feet long (see figure 1). The 161-foot-long circuit consists of two legs of 65.6 feet long and the other two legs of 14.9 feet long. Low turbulence and good flow direction control are obtained by a combination of features including four screens and honeycomb in the stilling camber, a 10 to 1 stilling chamber to test section contraction ratio, empirically tailored test section walls, tangential flow breathing at the test section exit to the diffuser, and a 5.4 degree diffuser angle. The main drive power source is a 125 hp DC motor with a solid state SCR speed control. The 16-blade fan is 6 feet in diameter. Cooling is accomplished by passing water through a copper tube heat exchanger.
The flow velocity range is approximately 20 to 240 ft/sec (6 to 73 m/sec) where the total temperature is in the range of 60 to 120oF. This corresponds to dynamic pressures up to 65 lb/ft2 and Reynolds numbers up to 1.3 ´ 106 per foot. Depending upon air temperature and the model dimensions, testing can be extended to the 65 to 75 lb/ft2 band. Figures 2, 3 and 4 show the test section, control room and returning section of the ADTW, respectively.
Operational characteristics
- Closed circuit, atmospheric pressure, continuous flow
- Airspeed range, 20 to 240 ft/sec (dynamic pressure, q, up to 65 lb/ft2)
- Reynolds number to 1.3 ´ 106 per foot
- Turbulence factor 1.08
- Test section size, 32 by 45 in. by 8 ft long
- Full test section length Plexiglas windows on sides and ceiling for optical access
- Drive motor, 125 hp DC
Model support and traverse systems
- Parallelogram linkage sting support system
- Angle of attack range up to ± 36 degrees, setting within 0.1 degree
- Vertical translation 6 in. above to 15 in. below tunnel centerline, setting within 0.01 in
- Removable panel for floor model support
- Rotating table on the floor
- Traverse system of two degrees of freedom for probes
Applications
The ADWT is used for measurements of forces and moments, pressure fields and flow fields on and about relatively small aerodynamic models. Since operating costs are low, this facility is particularly well suited for fundamental studies of flow physics, development of new aerodynamic measurement techniques, and exploratory tests with inexpensive, easily modified models.