Wind tunnel testing is the aerospace engineering method of studying how air flows around a scale or full-size model of an aircraft, rocket or other vehicle by mounting the model in a chamber where air is driven past it at controlled speed, and measuring the resulting forces, pressures and flow patterns. Instruments record lift, drag and other aerodynamic loads, while smoke, tufts or pressure-sensitive paint can visualize the airflow itself. First used systematically by the Wright brothers to refine wing shapes before their 1903 flight, wind tunnels remain a standard tool for validating aerodynamic designs and computational predictions before a vehicle ever flies.
Facts
Core PrincipleA controlled stream of air is produced in an enclosed test section so a scale model or object can be studied under known, repeatable aerodynamic conditions. 1 FAQs
Why did the Wright brothers build their own wind tunnel?
Their 1901 glider produced only about a third of the lift that published data predicted.
Their 1900 and 1901 gliders flew worse than the design methods available to them predicted. Based on their measurements, the 1901 aircraft developed only about one third of the lift predicted by the Lilienthal data, so in the fall of 1901 they began to question the published aerodynamic data and decided to measure lift and drag themselves. Their tunnel was a simple, single-speed design in which a fan, belt driven from the small gas engine that powered their bicycle shop tools, pushed air through a long wooden box. They built between one and two hundred small wing models, then chose about 30 of the best for detailed study. In 1902 they returned to Kitty Hawk with a new aircraft based on the results, which performed much better and led directly to the successful 1903 flyer.
Connections
Associated With
Field-to-technology association verified live; FROM end owned by fields section
In Field
Source Wind Tunnel (Wikipedia)Wikipedia contributors
Sources
1. Wind Tunnel (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundationlead paragraph, opening sentence
an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments
History section, paragraph on Francis Herbert Wenham
addressed these issues by inventing, designing, and operating the first enclosed wind tunnel in 1871.
In Group: Interface Definition and Verification Testing, Intro
Wind tunnel uses include assessing the effects of air on an aircraft in flight or a ground vehicle moving on land, and measuring the effect of wind on buildings and bridges.
In Field: Aerospace Engineering, Introduction
A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments".
View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.
View At A Past Year
Choose a year to see this entry's facts and connections as the atlas records them at that moment: what it held then, what it held instead, and what it had not yet adopted. Choose Present for the current record.