Low speed wind tunnel testing

Abstract

An introduction to wind tunnel design, wind tunnel data uncertainty analysis, and nondimensional presentation of measured data is presented. The primary components of a wind tunnel and the purposes of each are discussed. The importance of delivering uniform flow to the test section cross section is considered with regard to the effect of nonuniform flow on the measured thermal performance of a device, which is shown to be velocity-dependent. A simple methodology for constructing a wind tunnel with high-quality test section flow is described. The RMS (root-mean square) approach to uncertainty analysis is covered for several wind-tunnel-measured parameters. The significance of presenting measured results in a nondimensional coordinate system is illustrated by the discussion of a water tunnel experiment. The discussion is extended to the presentation of a hypothetical set of natural convection measurements and a nondimensional coordinate frame for this experiment is suggested.<>