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10ft x 5ft Low Speed

Imperial College London

The 10’x5’ wind tunnel is the largest low-speed wind tunnel at Imperial College and the flagship NWTF facility. This tunnel is a highly reconfigurable temperature-controlled facility with two test sections offering a wide range of features covering just about any study involving airflow. It provides an excellent facility for aerodynamic development and safety evaluation studies of road and race cars, aircraft, buildings and structures. The lower test section is a full 20 m long (one of the longest test sections in Europe) and has a 3 m x 1.5 m cross sectional area. It is equipped with a turntable, rolling road, internal 6-axis force balance, traverse and full boundary layer control.

Location:
London
Test Section 1 size:
3.04m x 1.52m x 20 m
3.41:1 contraction ratio. Max speed: 32 m/s.
Test Section 2 (Return) size:
5.7 m x 2.8 m x 18 m
Max. speed: 10 m/s.
Operational Status:
Active
Number and Type of Staff:
Scientific: 1 Adv Research Fellow
Technical Support: 1 – 2 engineers; 1 machining technician
Test support:
Fully equipped workshop for wind tunnel model design, CNC 4-axis mill, CNC 3-axis mill, CNC Lathe, CNC etching and cutting, a range of rapid prototyping manufacture and modification capability, 3D CAD support and drafting.
Designation:
Low speed, closed return
Performance:
Mach Number: 0.11 (max)
Maximum Flow Speed: 32 m/s
Reynolds No: 2.14x10⁶/m (max)
Total Pressure: Ambient
Pressure: up to 0.62 kN/m²
Temperature: Ambient
Turbulence intensity: 0.15% or better
Run Time: Continuous
Typical Recharge Time: n/a
Testing Capabilities:
Model Support:
• Automated turntable (3 m diameter) at the end of the lower test section + ABL simulation for building physics, wind farms, and wind turbines.
• Automated turntable (5.7 m diameter) at the end of the upper turntable + ABL simulation for wind farms and wind turbines.
• Automated Model Motion System for half-span aircraft model testing. Includes a 6-axis platform balance and BL suction.
• Car Model Support: internal 6-component sting-mounted balance (20o yaw range turntable). Underfloor turntable +20deg yaw


Rolling Road: 2.1m x 1.8m rubber/fabric belt, 41m/s, water-cooled, variable profile belt suction system, twin variable-speed boundary layer flow-control ahead of road.
Data Acquisition: : National Instruments multichannel ADC, 300+ channel pressure scanning.
Outputs: Forces & moments, pressure, velocity (LDA, LDV, PIV).
Flow visualisation: Video, surface fluorescent oil-flow, smoke wand.
Specialist Rigs:
• Air blowing: 10 bar max pressure.
• Fully automated Road Vehicle testing to 50% scale models.
• Automated Traverse system
• Half-span aircraft testing rig
• Turntables at end of each test section
• Car model motion control system (automated pitch, manual roll and yaw)
• Full atmospheric boundary layer simulation capability.
Equipment:
• Pressure Sensitive Paint/Temperature Sensitive Paint/Skin Friction/PIV System ISSI Engineering Innovation
• Tomographic PIV System / Planar Laser Induced Fluorescence System LAVision
• 3- Component Dual Probe LDA Dantec
• 3D Scanning Vibrometer (1MHz) Polytec
• Model Force Balance/Data Acquisition/Model Motion Control AeroTech/Flow Dynamics
• DTC Intium DAQ and 2x64 Channel Pressure Scanners Chell