OXFORD-UNIVERSITY 4MBY2M INDUSTRIAL AERODYNAMICS WIND-TUNNEL

A new 4 m × 2 m wind tunnel has been designed and built at the Department of Engineering Science, Oxford University specifically to provide a testing facility for architectural and industrial aerodynamics. The working section is 14 m in length so that simulation of the atmospheric wind can be arranged by inserting appropriate turbulence and velocity profile generators. Alternatively, the empty tunnel, having a construction area ratio of 2.8:1 provides a steady uniform flow with an average turbulence level less than 0.6 per cent and a mean speed up to 30 m/s. The tunnel has twin diffusers leading to a pair of commercial constant speed variable pitch fans, for which a suitable control system has been developed. It is now fully operational with a data acquisition system based on a PDP 11 on-line computer, and work is currently in progress using a 1/75th scale simulation of wind over open farmland. © 1979.