Types of Wind Tunnel Tests

Six Component Force Tests

In these tests a model is mounted near the center of the test section and aerodynamic forces and moments are measured at various combinations of pitch and yaw angles at a constant airspeed. These tests use the UWAL six-component external balance located beneath the test section (Figures 1 and 8).

Pressure Tests

These tests involve mounting a model that has pressure ports, which are read by the UWAL data system. The resulting data provides a detailed pressure distribution over the model surface. These tests can use UWAL-provided electronic pressure scanning (EPS) modules or individual pressure transducers. More details concerning pressure measurements are in the Pressure Measurements section.

Flow Visualization Tests

This test is identical to a force test except forces may or may not be measured depending on the type of flow visualization technique. In either case balance data is monitored. Flow visualization tests use various methods to "show" the path of the air flow on and/or around the model. Available techniques are described in the Flow Visualization section.