Talk:Wind tunnel
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[edit] Cleanup
This article has no flow and it lacks details on some subjects while providing too much detail on others. The text needs to be broken up into smaller categories and I would love to see more information and pictures on the different types of wind tunnels. Willy Logan 17:41, 20 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Restructure
I intend to put some time into this article over the next few weeks to help bring it up to standards. My background is in Aeronautical Engineering, and specifically in wind tunnel experimentation. I am not, however, a particularly good writer or editor so any help will be appreciated. I have a few thoughts on the existing sections, and how to better organize the article.
Intro Beef it up to provide more accurate/current measurement techniques and gear the section to serve as a roadmap for the article.
History There is a lot of uncited material in here. In addition, a lot of the material is actually off topic. While the research of Benjamin Robins and his whirling arm is interesting, it is not stricly speaking a wind tunnel. It is a testing technique that predates wind tunnels, and is worthy of mention, but perhaps we can create a more suitable topic. Also, this section is sprinkled with asertations that are the author's opinion, and as such should be removed. This sections also mentions a myrad of other aerospace topics (CFD, Boundary Layers, Human Free Fall) that should be linked to or discussed in a seperate section.
How it works Expand and add supporting graphics.
Wind Tunnel classification The present info describes the speed regiems that wind tunnels simulate, not the classification or configuration of the wind tunnels them selfs. This may be a good subtobic for How it works. Wind tunnels can also be classified in terms of how they operate (open or closed circuit, blow or suck, moving walls, etc) or what they simulate (aerodynamic, atmospheric boundary layer...). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.73.8.70 (talk) 12:28, 1 February 2008 (UTC)
Well known wind tunnels around the world This section is dangerously looking like a place where people can link to bolster their own work/prestiege. "Well known" is a very subjective term, and as such we should avoid using it. We may consider making a list of largest/fastest/first/etc, or consider deleting the topic all together
See also Expand
References Yea ... we'll need these
External Links This should likely be links to sites about wind tunnel testing, theory, and history. We should avoid linking to specific tunnels because a) there are far too many of them, and b) it would serve to bias the article to specific facilities and researchers
Other Thoughts The way I see it, this page fits in a larger category of Aerodynamic testing along with Flight testing, Test development, and CFD. Please respond with suggestions as I plan on editing next week. Jeff220 23:21, 1 February 2007 (UTC)
- Good plan. There is no aerodynamic testing article, but I think there ought to be. The various topics currently on this article that are unrelated to wind tunnels can go under aerodynamic testing. I agree that this article should be limited to wind tunnel subjects specifically.
- I don't think that Well-known wind tunnels around the world is necessary.
- A section explaining the different types of wind tunnels (subsonic, supersonic, spin tunnels, etc.) would be useful.
- Good luck making these edits. Willy Logan 17:54, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
[edit] Edits
The first edit is complete, which involved removing the "Well known" section. In case anyone still wants to know what was on that list, I've placed it below. Jeff220 12:29, 8 February 2007 (UTC)
Well known wind tunnels around the world
- Photo and remarks by Wilbur Wright on the replica he built of the Wright Brothers wind tunnel.
- NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA, USA — The largest wind tunnel in the world.
- NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA.
- The Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory at the University of Western Ontario, London Canada
- CPP, Inc.'s boundary layer wind tunnels for buildings and structures, Fort Collins, CO, USA.
- Rowan Williams Davies and Irwin (RWDI)'s boundary layer wind tunnels
- Japan Association for wind engineering
- Arnold Engineering Development Center, Tullahoma, Tennessee
- MIRA Ltd, Full-Scale Automotive Wind Tunnel, Nuneaton, UK.
- FKFS, Forschungsinstitut für Kraftfahrwesen und Fahrzeugmotoren Stuttgart
[edit] There are more than just planes.
I think that there should be all types of drag on planes. But I also think that there should be somthing about the drag effect on cars and trucks. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.55.62.218 (talk) 21:05, 10 February 2007 (UTC).
Also there should be a separate section on atmospheric boundary layer wind tunnels, which are currently randomly discussed in the history section.--193.82.249.132 14:15, 25 July 2007 (UTC)
[edit] List of Wind Tunnels
There are a lot of wind tunnels around. If we think a list is appropriate, we should start it as a separate article. I've suggested a few operating characteristics in the table format below.
Facility | Location | Tunnel | Type | Test Section | Max Velocity (Mach) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
NASA Ames | Sunnyvale, California | Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel | Transonic, Closed loop | 11' x 11' | 1.45 |
Does anyone think this is worth doing? And if so, what characteristics do you think are needed?
ComputerGeezer (talk) 01:13, 14 April 2008 (UTC)