Theory of Operation

Wind tunnels - Theory of
operation
Wind tunnels were first proposed as
a means of studying vehicles
(primarily airplanes) in free flight. The
wind tunnel was envisioned as a
means of reversing the usual
paradigm: instead of the air's
standing still and the aircraft moving
at speed through it, the same effect
would be obtained if the aircraft stood
still and the air moved at speed past
it. In that way a stationary observer
could study the aircraft in action, and
could measure the aerodynamic
forces being imposed on the aircraft.
Later, wind tunnel study came into its
own: the effects of wind on manmade
structures or objects needed to be
studied, when buildings became tall
enough to present large surfaces to
the wind, and the resulting forces had
to be resisted by the building's
internal structure. Determining such
forces was required before building
codes could specify the required
strength of such buildings.
Still later, wind-tunnel testing was
applied to automobiles, not so much
to determine aerodynamic forces per
se but more to determine ways to
reduce the power required to move
the vehicle on roadways at a given
speed. In these studies, the
interaction between the road and the
vehicle plays a significant role, and
this interaction must be taken into
consideration when interpreting the
test results. In an actual situation the
roadway is moving relative to the
vehicle but the air is stationary
relative to the roadway, but in the
wind tunnel the air is moving relative
to the roadway, while the roadway is
stationary relative to the test vehicle.
Some automotive-test wind tunnels
have incorporated moving belts
under the test vehicle in an effort to
approximate the actual condition.
Measurement of
aerodynamic forces
Ways that air velocity and
pressures are measured in
wind tunnels:
 air velocity through the
test section is determined
by Bernoulli's principle.
Measurement of
the dynamic pressure,
the static pressure, and
(for compressible
flow only) the temperature
rise in the airflow
 direction of airflow
around a model can be
determined by tufts of yarn
attached to the
aerodynamic surfaces
 direction of airflow
approaching an
aerodynamic surface can
be visualized by mounting
threads in the airflow
ahead of and aft of the
test model
 dye, smoke, or bubbles
of liquid can be introduced
into the airflow upstream
of the test model, and their
path around the model
can be photographed
(see particle image
velocimetry)
 pressures on the test
model are usually
measured with beam
balances, connected to
the test model with beams
or strings or cables
 pressure distributions
across the test model
have historically been
measured by drilling many
small holes along the
airflow path, and using
multi-tube manometers to
measure the pressure at
each hole
can more conveniently be
measured by the use
of pressure-sensitive
paint, in which higher local
pressure is indicated by
lowered fluorescence of
the paint at that point
can also be conveniently
measured by the use of
pressure-sensitive pressur
e belts, a recent
development in which
multiple ultra-miniaturized
pressure sensor modules
are integrated into a
flexible strip. The strip is
attached to the
aerodynamic surface with
tape, and it sends signals
depicting the pressure
distribution along its
[1]
surface.
 pressure distributions on
a test model can also be
determined by performing
a wake survey, in which
either a single pitot tube is
used to obtain multiple
readings downstream of
the test model, or a
multiple-tube manometer
is mounted downstream
WORKING OF WIND
TUNNEL
Six-element external balance below the Kirsten

Wind Tunnel
Air is blown or sucked

through a duct equipped
with a viewing port and
instrumentation
where models or
geometrical shapes are
mounted for study.
Typically the air is moved
through the tunnel using a
series of fans. For very
large wind tunnels several
meters in diameter, a single
large fan is not practical,
and so instead an array of
multiple fans are used in
parallel to provide sufficient
airflow. Due to the sheer
volume and speed of air
movement required, the
fans may be powered by
stationary turbofan engines
rather than electric motors.
The airflow created by the
fans that is entering the
tunnel is itself highly
turbulent due to the fan
blade motion (when the fan
is blowing air into the test
section – when it
is sucking air out of the
test section downstream,
the fan-blade turbulence is
not a factor), and so is not
directly useful for accurate
measurements. The air
moving through the tunnel
needs to be relatively
turbulence-free
and laminar. To correct this
problem, closely-spaced
vertical and horizontal air
vanes are used to smooth
out the turbulent airflow
before reaching the subject
of the testing.
Due to the effects
of viscosity, the cross-
section of a wind tunnel is
typically circular rather than
square, because there will
be greater flow constriction
in the corners of a square
tunnel that can make the
flow turbulent. A circular
tunnel provides a smoother
flow.
The inside facing of the
tunnel is typically as
smooth as possible, to
reduce surface drag and
turbulence that could
impact the accuracy of the
testing. Even smooth walls
induce some drag into the
airflow, and so the object
being tested is usually kept
near the center of the
tunnel, with an empty buffer
zone between the object
and the tunnel walls. There
are correction factors to
relate wind tunnel test
results to open-air results.
Flow visualization
Because air is transparent it is difficult to directly
observe the air movement itself. Instead, multiple
methods of both quantitative and qualitative flow
visualization methods have been developed for
testing in a wind tunnel.
[edit]Qualitative methods
 Smoke
 Tufts
Tufts are applied to a model and remain attached
during testing. Tufts can be used to gauge air flow
patterns and flow separation.
Compilation of images taken during an alpha run

starting at 0 degrees alpha ranging to 26 degrees
alpha. Images taken at the Kirsten Wind Tunnel
using fluorescent mini-tufts. Notice how separation
starts at the outboard wing and progresses inward.
Notice also how there is delayed separation aft of
the nacelle.
Fluorescent mini-tufts attached to a wing in the

Kirsten Wind Tunnel showing air flow direction and
separation. Angle of attack ~ 12 degrees, speed
~120 Mph.
 Evaporating suspensions
Evaporating suspensions are simply a mixture of
some sort or fine powder, talc, or clay mixed into a
liquid with a low latent heat of evaporation. When
the wind is turned on the liquid quickly evaporates
leaving behind the clay in a pattern characteristic of
the air flow.
China clay on a wing in the Kirsten Wind Tunnel
showing reverse and span-wise flow.
 Oil
When oil is applied to the model surface it can
clearly show the transition from laminar to turbulent
flow as well as flow separation.
Oil flow vis on straight wing in the Kirsten Wind

Tunnel. Trip dots can be seen near the leading
edge.
 Sublimation
If the air movement in the tunnel is sufficiently non-
turbulent, a particle stream released into the airflow
will not break up as the air moves along, but stay
together as a sharp thin line. Multiple particle
streams released from a grid of many nozzles can
provide a dynamic three-dimensional shape of the
airflow around a body. As with the force balance,
these injection pipes and nozzles need to be shaped
in a manner that minimizes the introduction of
turbulent airflow into the airstream.
High-speed turbulence and vortices can be difficult
to see directly, but strobe lights and film cameras or
high-speed digital cameras can help to capture
events that are a blur to the naked eye.
High-speed cameras are also required when the
subject of the test is itself moving at high speed,
such as an airplane propeller. The camera can
capture stop-motion images of how the blade cuts
through the particulate streams and how vortices are
generated along the trailing edges of the moving
blade.
Wind tunnel classification
There are many different
kinds of wind tunnels, an
overview is given in the
figure below:
 Low speed wind tunnel
 High speed wind tunnel
 Supersonic wind tunnel
 Hypersonic wind tunnel
 Subsonic and transonic
wind tunnel
Low-speed Oversize Liquid
Testing
Air is not always the best test
medium to study small-scale
aerodynamic principles, due
to the speed of the air flow
and airfoil movement. A
study of fruit fly wings
designed to understand how
the wings produce lift was
performed using a large tank
of mineral oil and wings 100
times larger than actual size,
in order to slow down the
wing beats and make
the vortices generated by the
insect wings easier to see
and understand.
Wind Tunnel Testing for
Wind Engineering
In Wind Engineering, Wind
Tunnel Tests are often used
to measure the velocity
around, and forces or
pressures upon structures.
Usually very tall buildings,
buildings with unusual or
complicated shapes (such as
a tall building with a
parabolic or a hyperbolic
shape), cable suspension
bridges or cable stayed
bridges are analysed in
specialized atmospheric
boundary layer wind tunnels.
These feature a long upwind
section to accurately
represent the wind speed
and turbulence profile acting
on the structure. Wind tunnel
tests provide the necessary
design pressure
measurements for use in the
dynamic analysis of the
structure.

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Wind tunnels - Theory of

Six-element external balance below the Kirsten

Air is blown or sucked

Compilation of images taken during an alpha run

Fluorescent mini-tufts attached to a wing in the

Oil flow vis on straight wing in the Kirsten Wind

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