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