The Facility
Cutaway view of the Kirsten Wind Tunnel
Location
The Kirsten Wind Tunnel building is located on the University of Washington (U.W.) campus, which is in the northern part of the city of Seattle, along the west shore of Lake Washington. The campus is approximately twenty miles from Seattle-Tacoma (Sea-Tac) International Airport. The cool climate of Washington provides for comfortable testing year-round (summer temperatures rarely exceed 85º F, winter temperatures normally in the 40s to 50s ºF). Click here to see where we are on the UW campus.
Building Overview
The Kirsten Wind Tunnel building houses the Kirsten Wind Tunnel and is constructed of brick and concrete. The building has three main levels. Doors can be secured to restrict access to the test section, model preparation area, balance deck, and all of the second and third levels, if necessary.
Control Room
The control room, located on the third floor of the building, is where the tunnel is operated, data is acquired then reduced, and the test is monitored. The tunnel operator's console has controls for operating the tunnel, changing speed, changing model attitude, and acquiring data.
Adjacent to the operators console is the test engineer’s workstation. The desk contains dual flat-panel monitors attached to a PC networked to the data system. Several video feeds are displayed on an adjacent flat panel television. The desk is directly across from the run board where the test engineer will specify the test parameters for the tunnel operator.
Company Room
A company room is located adjacent to the control room to provide a convenient office for the customer while testing. The company room has five desks and can be closed for privacy. The company room has an exclusive telephone line for customer use, 206-616-5981, and several PCs that are networked to the data system for either online plotting or post-processing. A closed-circuit television monitor displays realtime test information over one of several available video feeds from the test section.
Model Shop
Located on the first floor is a model shop with 470 square feet of floor space for model preparation and alterations. The model shop is furnished with the standard hand tools, machine tools, and a precision surface plate of 151 x 51.5 inches. A bandsaw, drill press, and mill are available for customer use. In addition, a fullly equipped shop and instrumentation specialists within the Department of Aeronautics & Astronautics can be called upon to fill the needs of our customers.
Fans
The wind is generated by two variable speed, seven-blade fans. Each fan is powered by a 500 hp dc electric motor. The fans are synchronized by a connecting axle to ensure the same fan RPM for each tunnel circuit. Each blade is made of Honduras mahogany. Each fan has a diameter of 14 feet 9 inches with approximately a ¼-inch clearance between the blade tip and tunnel wall.
Observation Deck
An observation area is adjacent to the test section and provides an unobstructed view of the model through a 44" x 87¼" window. The window can be covered with three steel plates for protection during powered tests, or black curtains for darkening the test section.
The observation deck has 108 square feet of usable floor space. The floor of the observation deck consists of three sections that can be raised to provide an unobstructed path for hoisting the model from the ground floor into the test section.
Model Deck
The model deck is adjacent to the test section and located opposite of the observation deck. The test section is entered by opening two, 48“ x 60” doors. The model deck is designed for minor model work and assembly. It contains commonly used supplies (model fillers, various tapes, screws, nuts, etc.), hand tools, a drill press, a grinder, and 53 square feet of counter space to accommodate model changes. An LED readerboard displays two lines of realtime test information including realtime raw and reduced data, model change instructions, and test status. It can display different information depending on whether the wind is on or off.