Latest News & Insights

Experiments at the National Wind Tunnel Facility’s EnFlo wind tunnel at the University of Surrey, have precisely measured how ozone pollution degrades floral scents and the significant impact this has on bees’ ability to navigate to flowers. The intricate dance between flowering plants and their pollinators is vital… read more

A research team at the National Wind Tunnel Facility (NWTF) has characterised the dynamic air flow around a scale model truck, informing the design of intelligent, adjustable flaps to reduce drag and cut fuel consumption. Transport is responsible for around one-fifth of global CO2 emissions, with passenger vehicles… read more

Researchers from the University of Plymouth’s Maritime Simulation and COAST laboratories used the NWTF Towing Tank at the University of Southampton in late August, conducting a week of towing experiments with a model floating wind turbine. Access was granted through the NWTF free access initiative.   A 1:70th scale… read more

Researcher mobility is a key initiative of the NWTF, encouraging researchers to travel from their host institution to carry out an experiment at an NWTF to enhance their research. In February 2024, Ikeya Uria, Senior Lecturer in Engineering, Wrexham University travelled to the University of Southampton to carry… read more

Operating at Mach 4, 5 & 6, the High Supersonic Wind Tunnel (HSST) facility at the University of Manchester has excellent optical access allowing measurement techniques such as Schlieren, PSP, PIV and infrared thermograph. This allows researchers to investigate high speed flows in a lot more detail than… read more

Researcher mobility is a key initiative of the NWTF, encouraging researchers to travel from their host institution to carry out an experiment at an NWTF to enhance their research. In July 2024, Cameron Wallace, a doctoral researcher at Loughborough University travelled to the University of Southampton to carry… read more

The Boldrewood Towing Tank is the only facility of its scale based at a UK university and as a member of the National Wind Tunnel Facility (NWTF), it’s a national resource open to all researchers and industry. Short film of the Towing Tank: The tank itself is 138… read more

Researchers at the University of Manchester, led by Professor Shan Zhong, have found that herringbone riblets – inspired by the wing surface structures of birds, could provide improvements to the design of scramjet inlet ducts. These bio-inspired micro-scale surface patterns were applied to a double-ramp model and tested… read more

This project, funded by Innovate UK in collaboration with the Aircraft Research Association (ARA) built upon the years of experience of the two institutions at utilising and developing flow diagnostic techniques. Traditional field measurements in aerodynamics, such as pressure-sensitive paint (PSP), are gathered using expensive, scientifically-cooled cameras which… read more

A PhD project sponsored by the European Space Agency has investigated experimental techniques that can be applied to high-speed wind tunnel tests to investigate the breakup of satellites and other space debris. The work was performed at the University of Manchester Hypersonic wind tunnel at Mach 5 and… read more

The Department of Aeronautics is conducting research into the inter-person transmission risk of Covid-19 during outdoor exercise. The aim of the project is to obtain detailed data on wake concentrations generated by individuals exercising outdoors (whether walking, jogging, running or cycling). This data is to be obtained to… read more

The design and manufacture of racing cars is a highly successful sector of the UK’s engineering industry and the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College has been working with the industry for more than 30 years. This collaboration has been primarily in the area of aerodynamic design involving model… read more