Wind Tunnel Laboratory

The wind tunnel building has three labs that include aerodynamics, propulsion and thermal/fluid.

Aerodynamics Laboratory

A student places his scale model into the wind tunnel to conduct aerodynamics tests. These tests are crucial to the design projects undertaken by students, and help students understand the fundementals of aircraft design.The aerodynamics lab houses four wind tunnels. The white tunnel is the largest with a 2 foot x 3 foot cross section. The Big Blue tunnel is the newest with the most modern instrumentation. The small blue tunnel is the third and is the most useful for simple demonstration. The fourth tunnel is the super sonic tunnel used for demonstration of aerodynamic shock at mach 1 up to mach 3.

We have four wind tunnels available for student use:

  • Subsonic - Open Circuit
    Test Section: 12 in x 12 in
  • Subsonic - Open Circuit
    Test Section: 24 in x 24 in
  • Subsonic - Closed Circuit
    Test Section: 32 in x 45 in
  • Supersonic Shock Tube
    Diameter: 6 in
 

Thermal/Fluid Laboratory

Students gather around a faculty member as he explains the principles behind the small blue wind tunnel. The small blue is an open circuit, subsonic windtunnel.

The thermal/fluids lab is a recent addition to the infrastructure that will be used to demonstrate fluid flow and thermodynamic behavior. The laboratory has a water tunnel for flow visualization.

 

Propulsion Laboratory

The micro-turbojet is a contained turbojet engine that is used to demonstrate the basics behind turbojet propulsion. Students can observe and measure several important variables while the micro-turbojet is running.The propulsion laboratory houses the micro-turbojet used in the rockets and turbines course. Advanced propulsion is also studied in this lab.