Method
Wind Tunnel Testing
Aerospace Engineering
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 Connections
Associated With
Field-to-technology association verified live; FROM end owned by fields section
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.
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