Small- and Full-Scale Wind Tunnel Tests

Aerodynamic testing of Lockheed Martin's RLV/X-33 model in the 31-inch Mach 10 Air Tunnel at NASA Langley Research Center - ACI supports research at NASA Langley Research Center's Aero/Aerothermo, Flight, and Structural Dynamics facilities. These facilities offer unique testing capabilities for exploring the basic fundamentals of hypersonic flow physics and for screening, assessing, optimizing and benchmarking advanced vehicle concepts for military and commercial aircraft and spacecraft.

ACI also supports aerodynamic/aeroheating tests of advanced access-to-space and planetary vehicles, basic fluid dynamic phenomena, CFD code calibration experiments, tunnel calibrations, and development of optical surface and flowfield measurement test techniques.

National Full Scale Wind Tunnel Complex - ACI has been involved in many wind tunnel projects at NASA Ames Research Center. ACI has supported tests in the NASA Ames 7- by 10-ft, 40- by 80-ft, and 80- by 120-ft wind tunnels. (The 80- by 120-ft wind tunnel is the World's largest and can accomodate a full-sized 737 airliner!) These tests include: evaluation of the aerodynamics of an F-18 Hornet at high angle-of-attack, measurement of noise generated by a scale-model tilt rotor, mapping of noise sources on a scale-model Boeing 777 landing gear, and unsteady pressure measurements on a model wing utilizing continuous moldline technology (CMT).

High angle of attack study with a real F-18 - ACI supported a multi-year study of high angle of attack aerodynamics using a real F-18 Hornet mounted in the 80- by 120-ft Wind Tunnel.

Aerodynamic and acoustic test of the Tilt Rotor Aeroacoustic Model (TRAM) - ACI engineers supported a recent 40-by 80-Foot Wind Tunnel test, evaluating the noise generated by the rotors of a motorized, actuated model of a tilt rotor aircraft.

Phosphor heating - ACI supported NASA's "Return to Flight." A ceramic model is coated with fluorescent phosphor crystals and placed into the airflow of a hypersonic wind tunnel. The model is illuminated using fluorescent lights. This will cause the phosphor crystals to emit light, with the green and red components each at different intensities. As the model is injected into the flow, the surface heats up; therefore causing the intensity of the green and red color components to decrease. The temperature of the model is determined by taking the intensities of the red and green components of the light given off by the phosphor, and applying a lookup up table. By using the temperature of the model before the run and during the run, the heating rate is determined.