Design of Transonic Test Section for Tri-Sonic Wind Tunnel

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Design of Transonic Test Section for Tri-Sonic Wind Tunnel

Team
KC.IRI Team and Department of Aeronautical Engineering

Industry:
Defence Research & Development Laboratory – DRDL

Abstract:
DRDL is working on establishing a Tri sonic Wind Tunnel with a transonic test section. This tunnel is having the capability to generate the three flow regimes namely subsonic, transonic (Mach number range is from 0.4 to 1.4), and supersonic speed. The tunnel will be intermittent blow down type with air stored at high pressure expanded through a nozzle to provide the required test Mach number.
The main aim of the work is to design a Transonic wind tunnel test section with perforated walls, to cancel the shock wave reflections. A transonic test section facility is intended to simulate the flow over the scaled down aerodynamic test models which is experienced by the aircrafts during free flight through the atmosphere at Mach numbers regime from 0. 8 to 1. 4. When the aircraft is flying in the transonic regime its aerodynamic characteristics are very complicated, and it is very sensitive to test the performance parameters (Pressure, Velocity, Reynolds number, Mass flow, etc.) in wind tunnel. The accuracy of data in transonic range has long been an unpredictable phenomenon of the development of high speed fighter aircrafts, rockets, re-entry vehicles and missiles. This is mainly due to the wall interference effects on wind tunnel model at transonic speeds. The interference effect is minimized by setting of the variable porosity on the test section walls in Transonic Wind Tunnel. The transonic wind tunnels are sensitive with respect to arrangement of slots, perforation pattern, and model size and porosity level.

Application:

  • Testing of aerodynamic models operating in transonic regime