Wind Tunnels

• Closed circuit wind tunnels
• Open circuit wind tunnels

In today’s world, wind tunnels are classified into different categories based on their design forms and speed limits. There are two types of wind tunnels based on design forms: closed circuit and open circuit, and three types based on speed limits: subsonic, transonic, and supersonic wind tunnels. Due to their high air quality, low energy consumption, and reduced noise, closed circuit systems are more advantageous.

All kinds of vehicles and structures that move through the air or are subjected to the effects of an air current experience aerodynamic forces and moments. Determining these forces and moments, as well as understanding the shape and structure of the airflow, is of great importance in design. Various experimental methods such as flight tests, ballistic tunnels, road tests, and wind tunnels are used to determine these phenomena.

Wind tunnels provide the safest, most cost-effective, and quickest means to obtain theoretical and numerical information about airflow. With these characteristics, wind tunnels also facilitate the monitoring and improvement of designs for compliance.

Aerodynamic characteristics of air vehicles such as airplanes, helicopters, parachutes, and balloons, as well as the impact of high-rise buildings on airflow, interactions with objects like dish antennas, towers, bridges, umbrellas, and helmets, and the investigation of structural integrity during stormy conditions can all be studied in wind tunnels.

In a wind tunnel experiment, the object under test or a scaled model of it is mounted in the test chamber, wind is provided at the desired speed, angle adjustments are made as needed, measurements are taken using measurement systems, or flow visualization tests are conducted using various techniques to examine the airflow.