A compact benchtop wind tunnel, with visible working section.

A wide range of accessories and instrumentation options are available, allowing a comprehensive study of Subsonic Aerodynamics and Fluid Mechanics.

DESCRIPTION

The C15-10 is a computer controlled compact wind tunnel designed for benchtop operation. Air is drawn through the working section by a variable speed fan at the discharge end of the tunnel providing up to 34m/s air velocity.

A honeycomb flow straightener is incorporated at the inlet, and a 9:4:1 contraction ratio which ensures an uniform airflow through the working section.

The working section is fabricated from clear acrylic to provide optimum visibility of the models, and appropriate model connection points are included in the side wall and roof of the working section to provide ease of use.

The wind tunnel is supplied as standard with an in-depth software interface providing control of the fan speed and additionally display important parameters such as static pressure and air velocity.

The Armfield C15-10 can be optionally supplied with two variants of manometry banks, a 13 tube water manometer used to simultaneously display differential pressure or a sixteen channel electronic manometer allowing direct integration into the supplied software.

The wind tunnel can be supplied with a range of optional accessories including drag bodies, lift bodies, pressure distribution, boundary layers studies and measuring instruments.

The optional models are mounted through a circular hatch using quick release clamps (120mm diameter). The placement of the optional models has been designed to minimise the disturbance to air flow and reduction in flow rate, whilst incorporating an angular scale allowing the model to be manually rotated to known angles.

The working section incorporates an innovative technique for flow visualisation around any of the optional models avoiding the need for either smoke or dry ice. A lightweight twine follows the flow contour around the model and shows if and where boundary layer separation (breakaway) occurs.