What is a wind tunnel?
A visit to NASA Langley Research Center would be very exciting. You could meet NASA scientists and engineers working with wind tunnels. Why does NASA use wind tunnels? Wind tunnels are basically tubes through which air – or a gas – is moved to make “wind” in the tube. This “wind” moves past objects such as airplanes or just parts from airplanes. It is always a good idea to test a new aircraft design in a wind tunnel before you build the real aircraft. Models tested in wind tunnels will always go through design changes before engineers are satisfied with its design and test results. There are many different types of wind tunnels around the world. NASA operates its wind tunnels at four locations in the United States. The locations are Langley Research Center in Virginia, Ames Research Center in California, Glenn Research Center in Ohio, and Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama. NASA Ames has the largest wind tunnel in the world. It can hold a full-sized aircraft with a wingspan up to
Wind tunnels date back to the 1870’s. Scientists realized it didn’t matter if an object was stationary (not moving) and air was blown over the object or if the object was moving through the air. The resultant forces over the object would be the same. The idea of blowing air over an object and determining the forces led to the invention of the wind tunnel. A wind tunnel is generally sort of a duct or pipe shape and air is either blown or pulled out of the tunnel. Typically in about the middle of the tunnel is what is called the “test section”. This is where the model object to be tested is placed. In aerodynamics this is typically an airplane wing or a scale model of an airplane – for our project it will be an 11″ tennis ball. Wind tunnels can be small devices that fit on a table or be as big as several city blocks like one of the tunnels at NASA Ames. The tunnel we will use is not that large but does fill a large room. Our wind tunnel expert from NASA Ames, Dr. Rabindra Mehta (Rabi), h
Participants will first introduce themselves by sharing information about their class, school, community, and selves. All messages should be sent to: tunnel-aero@quest.arc.nasa.gov Each member of the discussion forum will receive a copy of all messages posted to this list address. Please be sure to always enter a clear subject and always add the following to all messages: teacher’s name, school, and location information in the signature file. Students are encouraged to submit messages to the forum with their teacher’s review and approval. Please review the archive of messages already posted to discover where our discussion has already been. IV. LEARNING GOALS AND OBJECTIVES • Students will use varied resources (books, online resources, articles, etc.) to research and explore the historical aeronautical work of the Wright Brothers. Student teams will identify the key events that led to the building of wind tunnels and explain how the wind tunnels expanded the understanding of aeronautic
Wind tunnels date back to the 1870’s when scientists realized it didn’t matter if an object was stationary and air was blown over it or if the object were moving through the air as the resultant forces over the object would be the same. The idea of blowing air over an object and determining the forces led to the invention of the wind tunnel. When an aircraft moves through calm air, its aerodynamic behavior is the same as if it were immobile and the air was rushing past it. A wind tunnel is a test facility used to generate a flow of air past a scaled model of an aircraft. It provides various measurements to determine aerodynamic behavior and performance. In that respect a wind tunnel can be seen as an aerodynamic flight simulator. Although actual flight-testing is more realistic, the advantages of the wind tunnel are obvious. Wind tunnel testing can be performed at an early stage in an aircraft development program without having to wait for the first prototype. The costs are clearly low
