When the Wright brothers invented the airplane in December They carried out most of their tests outdoors with significant risk. But, at the present day, such testing is conducted indoors with reduced risk factors, all because of the great innovation of the self-taught British aeronautical engineer Frank Wenham — He invented the modern-day wind tunnel in Originally, Wenham designed a trunk 18 inches [46cm] square and 12 feet [3.
This invention of Wenham has revolutionized modern day aerodynamics. These tunnels help in studying the science of aerodynamics.
Once an aircraft is up in the air, it is not easy to see how air is flowing past it. Generally, wind tunnels use powerful fans to move large amounts of air through the tube. The test object is securely fastened in the tunnel so that it remains stationary. Wind tunnels are used to help calibrate and build wind gauges, which can help measure wind flow.
They are also used to learn more about the aerodynamics of objects such as cars, airplanes, and trains.
Wind tunnels are a somewhat simple construction. They are a long tube enclosed in glass, plastic, metal, or sometimes entire buildings. Wind tunnels have a high-powered fan on both ends of the tube. One to blow wind onto the object and another to move air out of the tunnel. That way there is no return flow that could damage the data being collected.
Wind tunnels can be a small as a coffee table or as large as a warehouse. The test section alone is feet meters long, through which wind speeds of up to mph kph flow. Engineers can adjust relative humidity from 10 to 98 percent and push temperatures from as low as degrees to degrees Fahrenheit to 60 Celsius.
True to its name, the Vienna Climatic Tunnel comes complete with rain, snow and ice capabilities, in addition to solar exposure simulators. Icing capability, in particular, has been a critical component in wind tunnels for decades, because ice buildup on airplane surfaces can be disastrous, causing a plane to crash. Icing tunnels have refrigeration systems that cool the air and then spray fine droplets of water into the airflow, producing a glaze on the test models.
Engineers can then tinker with solutions to counter ice buildup, for example, by installing heating systems that warm the surfaces of the plane. There are a lot of other tunnel types designed for specific purposes.
Some designs skip poles or wires for securing the model and instead use powerful magnets that suspend metallic models in the test section. Others provide remote control wires that let scientists actually "fly" a model plane within the test area. The University of Texas at Arlington's Aerodynamics Research Center has what's called an arc jet tunnel, which generates supersonic streams of very hot gas at temperatures up to 8, degrees Fahrenheit 4, Celsius.
These kinds of temperatures are especially useful for NASA, which subjects its spacecraft to high heat as they re-enter Earth's atmosphere. Some tunnels omit air entirely and instead use water. Water flows much like air, but it has greater density than air and is more visible, too. Those properties help scientists visualize flow patterns around submarines and ship hulls, or even better see shockwaves created by very fast aircraft and missiles.
So what's the point of blowing all of this hot and cool air around, anyway? It's not just so that scientists can get their geek on -- on the next page, you'll see how wind tunnels help us do a lot more than fly. Vertical wind tunnels or VWTs prove that wind tunnels aren't just for work. VWTs let people skydive indoors also called bodyflying , a good way for novices and pros alike to learn how to skydive safely and have a blast at the same time.
Engineers and manufacturing specialists use wind tunnels to improve not just airplanes and spacecraft, but an entire assortment of industrial and consumer products. Automobile makers, in particular, rely heavily on wind tunnels. General Motors' Aerodynamics Laboratory has the biggest wind tunnel for studying car aerodynamics.
Since building the tunnel three decades ago, the company's engineers have reduced the coefficient of drag of their vehicles by around 25 percent.
That kind of improvement boosts fuel economy by two to three miles per gallon. Race-car makers use the tunnels to improve car aerodynamics, particularly speed and efficiency, to help them get a competitive edge. Another company, called Windshear, also operates in North Carolina and owns an advanced closed-circuit tunnel with a built-in rolling road, which is basically a huge treadmill for cars.
Electronics engineers use small wind tunnels to see how airflow affects heat buildup in components. Then they can design cooler computer chips and motherboards that last longer. Utilities managers use wind tunnels to test wind turbines used to generate electricity. Wind tunnels help make the turbines and their blades more efficient, effective and durable, so they can withstand constant, powerful gusts. But wind tunnels also help engineers determine wind farm layouts and turbine spacing, so as to maximize efficiency while minimizing power-sucking turbulence.
Wind tunnels and test models aren't cheap to build. That's why more and more organizations are deactivating their wind tunnels and shifting to computer modeling also called computational fluid dynamics , which is now often used in place of physical models and tunnels. What's more, computers let engineers adjust infinite variables of the model and the test section without time-consuming and expensive manual labor.
Physical tunnels are sometimes used only to retest the results of computer modeling. Construction engineers use computer modeling for wind engineering testing to help them design and build skyscrapers , bridges and other structures. They investigate the interplay of building shapes and materials and wind to make them safer and stronger.
For now, though, wind tunnels are still in active use all around the world, helping scientists make safer and more efficient products and vehicles of all types. And even if newer virtual technologies do eventually replace physical wind tunnels, these marvels of engineering will always have a place in the history of humankind's development. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. Mobile Newsletter chat avatar.
Mobile Newsletter chat subscribe. How Wind Tunnels Work. The Vienna Climactic Tunnel lets engineers expose test subjects to extreme temperatures. It's one of the only tunnels in the world that can accommodate full-size rail cars. Blowing in a New Age " ". The first plane and glider designs had a lot of bird-like characteristics.
Wind tunnels proved that many of those ideas were rather bird-brained. From the June Issue of Car and Driver. New Cars. Buyer's Guide. Type keyword s to search.
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