Wind Tunnel Test Techniques

Associate Chair, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA Dr. Britcher has more than 40 years’ experience in wind tunnel design and test techniques, starting as an undergraduate student. He has worked with a variety of facilities and applications, covering all speed ranges, including several NASA-funded projects. Professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA Dr. Landman has more than 35 years’ experience on wind tunnel design, with an emphasis on experiment design and balance calibration. He was responsible for operations and test support of the "Langley Full-Scale Tunnel", the largest University operated wind tunnel in the world, prior to its decommissioning by NASA.

SECTION 1 Introduction 1. A brief history of the genesis of wind tunnels 2. Types and uses of wind tunnels 3. Dynamic similarity

SECTION 2 Wind tunnel design and circuit aerodynamics 4. Subsonic wind tunnel design 5. Boundary interference assessment, alleviation, and correction 6. Model supports and support interference evaluation 7. Transonic wind tunnels 8. Supersonic wind tunnels 9. Hypersonic test facilities 10. Force and Moment Balances 11. Model design and construction 12. Special topics

SECTION 3 Operational and Test Procedures 13. Statistical Engineering Practices 14. Wind tunnel calibration 15. Flow quality assessment 16. Force and moment measurements 17. Facility instrumentation 18. Planning of Test Campaigns

SECTION 4 Wind tunnel test techniques 19. Pressure surveys 20. Dynamic testing 21. Facility-to-facility, facility-to-CFD, facility-to-flight correlation

SECTION 5 Measurement Techniques 22. Flow visualization 23. Nonintrusive quantitative flow field measurements

SECTION 6 Postscript 24. The role of CFD in aerodynamic research 25. The future of ground testing

SECTION 7 APPENDICES A. A primer on statistical engineering B. Strain-gage balance calibration example