Low-Speed Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel
Our Boundary Layer Tunnel is heavily used in our undergraduate- and graduate-level laboratory courses. General experiments related to the occasional student project, and small research grants, are also performed in this tunnel.
Some of our previous research involves boundary layer measurements, general 2D and 3D airfoil testing, drag measurements of long slender vehicles, protuberance drag studies, evaluations of rotorcraft whirl flutter, and most recently, micro-scale wind turbine development, testing and control.
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Tunnel Features:
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Closed-return circuit: 110’ x 14’ x 10’ ( 33.5m x 4.3 m x 3 m )
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Closed-throat test section: 2’ x 3’ x 20’ ( 0.6 m x 0.9 m x 6 m)
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Wind Speeds: 0 to 150 fps (0 to 46 m/s)
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Turbulence intensity: ~ 0.3%
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Reynolds-number range: 50,000 to 150,000
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Unusually long test section allows for boundary layer studies and long models.
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PSU Faculty Contact(s):
Richard Auhl
Assistant Research Professor
226 Hammond Building
814-777-5381
