Facilities

The R J Mitchell wind tunnel is a large and extensively equipped low-speed wind tunnel with a 3.6 m x 2.5 m (11’x 8’) working section, with moving ground and a maximum wind speed of 50 m/s. It is ideally suited for vehicle aerodynamic work but is also equipped with a modern overhead 6-component balance, a 3-axis LDA system and a PIV system for optical measurements of the airflow.

The 7’x 5’ wind tunnel has a slightly smaller 2.1 m x 1.5m working section, with speeds up to 55 m/s, and is used extensively for undergraduate and postgraduate research projects. It also has a moving ground for vehicle aerodynamic work. The tunnel also has a 4.6 m x 3.7 m (15’x 12’) low speed section that is used for wind engineering studies and work for the marine industry on racing yacht sails.

The 3’x 2’ tunnel has an open circuit facility with a 0.9 m x 0.6 m x 4.5m working section. It is installed in a laboratory, is equipped with a 3D computer controlled probe traversing system and dynamometer, and is used for a variety of aerodynamics research and student project work. It is also suitable for the calibration of instrumentation and the laboratory has laser safety arrangements that enable the PIV system to be used for flow visualisation studies.

There is a further laboratory equipped with a number of tunnels that are primarily used in the undergraduate courses. Two of these open circuit tunnels are, however, useful for preliminary research studies: The 3’x 2’ Coventry tunnel with a 0.9 m x 0.6 m working section and the 2’square tunnel with a 0.6 m x 0.6 m working section both operate at speeds up to 50 m/s.