Our Facilities

The National Wind Tunnel Facilities cover low speed, transonic, supersonic and hypersonic speeds across all sectors including Aerospace, Automotive, Civil, Rail and Environmental. Facilities are available to industry and academic users.

8ft x 6ft Low Speed

Cranfield University

Designation:
Closed Return
Test Section Size:
2.4 x 1.8m
7:1 Contraction ratio
Maximum Flow Speed:
5 – 45m/s

Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL)

University of Birmingham

Designation:
Open-circuit tunnel
Test Section Size:
2m square working cross-section & 14m long working section
Current ABL length scale of 1:300
Maximum Flow Speed:
Maximum freestream wind-speed of approximately 10m/s

10ft x 5ft Low Speed

Imperial College London

Designation:
Low speed, closed return
Test Section Size:
10ft x 5ft (3.04m x 1.52m x 20m)
Maximum Flow Speed:
41 m/s

Low Turbulence

City, University of London

Designation:
Low Speed, closed return.
Test Section Size:
0.91 m x 0.91 m x 3m
6.75:1 contraction ratio.
Maximum Flow Speed:
45m/s

Automotive

Designation:
Open circuit, closed throat
Test Section Size:
1.92 (W) x 1.32 (H) x 3.6m (L)
Maximum Flow Speed:
40m/s (90 mph)

RJ Mitchell

University of Southampton

Designation:
Closed Return
Test Section Size:
3.6 x 2.5 x 10.5m
5:1 contraction ratio.
Maximum Flow Speed:
50 m/s