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A compliant wall, supersonic wind tunnel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

E. H. Dowell*
Affiliation:
Princeton University

Extract

The self-correcting wind tunnel has attracted considerable interest in recent years as a concept for achieving minimum wall interference in a wind tunnel. Sears, et al., have presented an authoritative account which is recommended to the reader. Among their important conclusions is that a perforated wind tunnel wall (with control of the pressures in subdivided plenum chambers) is superior to control of impermeable, flexible walls such as suggested by Chevallier and Goodyer. In Reference 2 and 3 and the discussion in Reference 1 it is assumed that the impermeable, flexible wall is deformed into an a priori determined shape of fixed magnitude. The selection of wall shape function and its magnitude is made so as to minimise wind tunnel wall interference. In the present paper this concept is broadened to allow at least the magnitude of the wall shape to vary with flow conditions, e.g. flow dynamic pressure. More generally the shape function might vary as well. As will be shown there are advantages to such a compliant wall concept.

Type
Technical Notes
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1978 

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References

1. Sears, W. R., Vidal, R. J., Erickson, J. C. and Ritter, A. Interference free wind tunnels by adaptive wall technology. ICAS Paper No 76-02, Tenth Congress of the ICAS, October 1976.Google Scholar
2. Chevallier, J. Self-correcting walls for a transonic wind tunnel. NASA-TT-F-17254, October 1976.Google Scholar
3. Goodyer, M. J. The low speed self streamlining wind tunnel. AGARD Conference Proceedings No 174 on Wind Tunnel Design and Testing Techniques, Paper No 13, March 1976.Google Scholar
4. Miles, J. W. The compressible flow past an oscillating airfoil in a wind tunnel. The Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, Vol 23, No 7, pp 671678, 1956.Google Scholar