Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics, 16 (1984) 293--300 293

Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., A m s t e r d a m -- Printed in The Netherlands

A TOLERANTWIND TUNNEL FOR INDUSTRIAL AERODYNAMICS

G.V. Parkinson

Department o f Mechanical Engineering, The University o f B r i t i s h Columbia

SUMMARY
Over the past 8 years, a new c o n fi g u r a ti o n of test section for the low speed
wind tunnel t e s t i n g o f high l i f t a i r f o i l s has been devised and developed in the
aerodynamics l a b o r a t o r y o f the Department o f Mechanical Engineering at the Univer-
s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia. Designed on the basis o f p o t e n t i a l - f l o w theory i t employs
walls opposite the t e s t a i r f o i l consisting o f an array of symmetrical a i r f o i l slats
at zero incidence spaced so that the outer streamlines of the test section flow can
pass into an outer plenum and return to the t e s t section downstream in such a way
that the o v e r a l l streamline pattern c l o s e l y approximates the corresponding f r e e - a i r
pattern. The r e s u l t i n g boundary corrections have thus been reduced from as high
as 50% in tunnels with s o l i d walls to less than 2% f or a wide range o f sizes and
shapes o f t e s t a i r f o i l . The present paper describes the adaptation of the theory
to the t e s t i n g o f two-dimensional b l u f f bodies, which can experience large wall
corrections in conventional tunnels, and the results o f some preliminary experiments.

I. INTRODUCTION
The f i r s t wind tunnel tests, about 80 years ago, were on components of a i r c r a f t
and as a v i a t i o n developed wind tunnel t e s t i n g quickly became a routine part o f the
design process f o r a i r c r a f t , so that aeronautical engineers have access to a large
body of knowledge about the methods and problems o f such t e s t i n g . One o f the prob-
lems, s t i l l of great concern, is the d i s t o r t i o n o f test data by the effects of con-
s t r a i n t s on the test a i r flow imposed by the test section boundaries, whether s o l i d
walls or open j e t s , both in common use. In general, s o l i d boundaries squeeze the
streamlines together and increase the loadings on the test body, while the reverse
is true f o r open j e t boundaries. A paper in the AGARDograph series ( r e f . l ) summar-
izes conventional aeronautical practice in low-speed wind tunnel boundary corrections
These correction methods give s a t i s f a c t o r y results i f t e s t models are not too large
r e l a t i v e to t e s t section dimensions, and they are widely used.
In non-aeronautical wind-tunnel t e s t i n g , which now competes strongly with aero-
nautical t e s t i n g f o r tunnel time, the practice on boundary corrections has been
rather d i f f e r e n t . Very o f t e n , no corrections are made, in some cases perhaps because
engineers not trained in the aeronautical t r a d i t i o n do not appreciate the importance
o f such corrections, in other cases because the semi-empirical nature of the a v a i l -
able corrections and the l i m i t e d accuracy needed in the data permit the neglect of
the corrections when they are considered s u f f i c i e n t l y small.
When boundary corrections are made in wind engineering tests there is no general

0167-6105/84/$03.00 © 1984 Elsevier Science Publishers B.V.

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agreement on the methods. This is not s u r p r i s i n g, since the separated flows past
b u i l d i n g s , structures, and road vehicles have broad wakes whose effects dominate the
loadings on the bodies. Since these wake properties cannot be predicted even in
free a i r , any boundary correction method must be semi-empirical, and several methods
have been proposed, and are described in d e t a i l elsewhere ( f o r example r e f s . 2 , 3 , 4 ,
5,6). Of these, Maskell's method (and Cowdrey's modification of i t ) are based on
a momentum analysis and assumptions about the wake pressure and geometry, while
the other methods are purely empirical. Such methods are useful, but not generally
s u i t a b l e for a p p l i c a t i o n to other than the classes of b l u f f shapes and size ranges
o f t e s t model for which they were o r i g i n a l l y derived.
Another approach is to create a test environment in which boundary corrections
are unneccesary, f o l l o w i n g a decision as to how much d i s t o r t i o n of test data by
boundary effects is acceptable. For a given t e s t model, i f a wind tunnel of suf-
f i c i e n t l y large test section is a v a i l a b l e , then boundary corrections are unneccesary.
Unfortunately, there are not very many wind tunnels both large enough r e l a t i v e to
typica l wind engineering test models ( t e s t section areas of order IO0 m2) and a v a i l -
able f o r wind engineering t e s t i n g . I f smaller wind tunnels must be used, the
boundary corrections can perhaps be made n e g l i g i b l e by modifying the boundaries in
some way. In one class of boundary m o d i f i c a t i o n methods, c u r r e n t ly under development
for aeronautical t e s t i n g , the test flow streamline pattern is made to approach the
f r e e - a i r (unconstrained) pattern by a c t i v e l y adjusting, through a feedback system,
e i t h e r d i s t r i b u t e d boundary suction (e.g. r e f . 7 ) or the configuration of f l e x i b l e
s o l i d walls (e.g. r e f . 8 ) . A simpler a l t e r n a t i v e to these rather complex active
boundary correction schemes is the class of passive schemes, in which a single con-
f i g u r a t i o n of the test section boundaries is designed to make boundary corrections
n e g l i g i b l e for a wide range of test model sizes and shapes. Stafford ( r e f . 9 ) has
proposed such a c o n f i g u r a ti o n for the tunnel t e s t i n g of automobiles, in which the
s o l i d t e s t section c e i l i n g and side walls are shaped to conform to a calculated
f r e e - a i r streamline pattern for flow past a mid-range automobile shape, and these
walls are estimated to produce acceptably low d i s t o r t i o n s of loadings on off-design
automobile shapes and sizes.
Another class of passive boundary c o n fi g u r a ti on makes use of the fact mentioned
e a r l i e r that corrections fo r s o l i d walls and open jets are of opposite sign, so
that low corrections could r e s u l t from p a r t l y - s o l i d , partly-open boundaries. Boun-
daries of this type, using l o n g i t u d i n a l slots or patterns of holes, have been used
successfully in transonic wind tunnel te s ti n g with small test models. Their exten-
sion to low speed t es ti n g with l a r g e r models has been considered, but the separated
flows from the edges o f the slots or holes introduce a d d i t i o n a l empiricism ( r e f . 1 0 ) ,
severely l i m i t i n g the usefulness of the configurations. However, a method using a
s l o t t e d configuration avoiding such flow separations has been under development
in the author's l a b o r a t o r y fo r h i g h - l i f t airfoil t e s t ing ( r e f . l l ) , and in the
 295

f o l l o w i n g paper t h i s method is described and i t s extension to the t e s t i n g of b l u f f

two-dimensional bodies is considered.

I/~//I///I/
,'/////v'i/i/~ ~I/i///il///l'.

sg.r -
h ,'-~,~

"I,7, V/i/i/i/i//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Fig.l S i n g l e - s l a t t e d - w a l l tunnel c o n f i g u r a t i o n for a i r f o i l testing

2. THE TOLERANTWIND TUNNEL

The test section c o n f i g u r a t i o n of Figure 1 is designed to produce low boundary
corrections in the two-dimensional t e s t i n g of r e l a t i v e l y large h i g h - l i f t airfoil
sections. The wall opposite the pressure side of the test a i r f o i l is s o l i d , but
opposite the suction side the boundary consists of a row of transverse slats of
symmetrical a i r f o i l shape at zero incidence. Outside t h i s boundary is a plenum.
The r a t i o n a l e for t h i s design is as f o l l o w s . The a i r f o i l - s l a t t e d boundary provides
the p a r t l y - s o l i d , partly-open boundary condition designed to produce compensating
effects and r e s u l t i n g low c o r r e c t i o n s , but with unseparated flow past the s l a t s , which
operate w i t h i n t h e i r unstalled range of angle of attack. The only boundary flow
separation is from the end of the s o l i d wall upstream of the s l a t s , and the shear
layer from t h i s edge l i e s inside the plenum, and j o i n s the main flow downstream of
the test a i r f o i l . Only the one boundary is s l o t t e d because the flow over the suction
side of the t e s t a i r f o i l completely dominates the loading and the flow over the
pressure side is almost unaffected by boundary c o n s t r a i n t s . I f the boundary opposite
the pressure side was also f i t t e d with a i r f o i l s l a t s , the corresponding shear layer
from the end of the upstream s o l i d wall would l i e inside the test section and degrade
the flow near the test a i r f o i l while rendering the nearby slats i n e f f e c t i v e .
To determine the best c o n f i g u r a t i o n of the boundary a i r f o i l slats a two-dimension~
potential flow model, employing the surface vortex s i n g u l a r i t y method of Kennedy
( r e f . 1 2 ) , is applied, In t h i s method s o l i d body contours are replaced by polygons
whose vertices are points of the o r i g i n a l contour. Each element of a polygon has a
uniform d i s t r i b u t i o n of v o r t i c i t y of unknown strength, and these strengths are
determined by s a t i s f y i n g the surface boundary condition of constant stream function
at control points at the center of each element. Airfoil c i r c u l a t i o n s are additional
unknowns and the necessary additional Kutta conditions are applied by introducing
an extra control point j u s t o f f the t r a i l i n g edge of each a i r f o i l section on the
296

b i s e c t o r of the t r a i l i n g - e d g e angle. In the a i r f o i l - s l a t t e d boundary model these

boundary conditions are applied on both t e s t and boundary a i r f o i l sections, and on
the portions of s o l i d w a l l . No boundary c o n d i t i o n is applied on the streamline
simulating the shear l a y e r from the end of the s o l i d w a l l , and in the model the flow
is regarded as continuous at the same t o t a l head on the outside of t h i s s t r e a m l i n e .
The assumed j u s t i f i c a t i o n is t h a t t h i s streamline is on the other side of the s l a t t e d
boundary from the t e s t a i r f o i l , so any e f f e c t s of an i n c o r r e c t streamline l o c a t i o n or
pressure d i s t r i b u t i o n should be n e g l i g i b l e . A few c a l c u l a t i o n s in which a free
streamline boundary c o n d i t i o n has been imposed appear to bear out t h i s assumption.

CLT/CLF m

NACAO015 (2 = I0 ° NACAO015 SOLID

1.5 _- NACA25OI2 C1=8~=20 ° O. II _ Re = 0 . 5 ( 1 0 ) e J
.... ,or ,O=,oo

15

-
f / o,o ~ . __A.___~-- 60
g,s-,.
I.I J 0.09 - ". . . . . , ~ . . . ' ~ - - - - 7 0

~]/S 5 5 - 65"/.
0.9
0 0.25 0.50 0.75 0 0.25 0.50 0.75
C/h C/h
Fig.2 Effect o f a i r f o i l / t u n n e l size Fig.3 Effect of a i r f o i l / t u n n e l size
r a t i o on l i f t : Theory r a t i o on l i f t : Experiment

A sample of results from the potential flow modelling is shown in Figure 2 (from
ref.ll). The results of calculations are shown for 3 d i f f e r e n t test a i r f o i l sections
in the presence of conventional solid walls and in the presence of the new slatted
wall configuration with favourable values of the open-area r a t i o g/s (see Figure l ) .
One of the test a i r f o i l sections has a slotted flap deflected 20° . Figure 2 shows
lift coefficient CLT in the tunnel normalized by f r e e - a i r l i f t coefficient CLF at
the same angle of attack ~ plotted as a function of r e l a t i v e test a i r f o i l size c/h.
The figure shows predictions that whereas l i f t corrections can rise above 50% for
large a i r f o i l s in a conventional tunnel, the corrections can be kept below 2% for
c/h < 0.8 for suitable values of g/s in a slatted-wall tunnel. The calculations
also indicate that suitable open-area ratios are near 60%. Figure 3 shows some
results of experiments seeking v e r i f i c a t i o n of the predictions. Here the ordinate
is l i f t curve slope m = dCL / d ~ , per degree, in an unstalled range of ~ for one of
the a i r f o i l sections of Figure 2. I t can be seen that the results are in good
 297

agreement with the predictions, and that a slatted-wall tunnel configuration with
an open area ratio of about 60%would produce low l l f t corrections even for quite
large test models. Developmentof this tolerant wind tunnel for a i r f o i l testing is
continuing, but the same type of boundary configuration should be equally useful
for wind engineering tunnel tests, and the problem is considered in the next section.

3. FLOWMODELFOR BLUFF BODYTOLERANTTUNNEL

A considerable proportion of non-aeronautical wind tunnel testing is devoted to
investigation of the aerodynamic properties of b l u f f two-dimensional shapes, both
because of s c i e n t i f i c interest arising from the nature of the separated flows and
because of engineering requirements for aerodynamic information on structural shapes.
Circular and rectangular sections continue to be intensively studied and other simple
shapes receive attention. The aerodynamic loading on such bodies is dominated by
drag rather than l i f t , and the blockage corrections to drag and pressure d i s t r i b u t i o n
can be large in conventional tunnels. Much of this kind of testing is done in rela-
t i v e l y small university wind tunnels, so that a low-correction test section configu-
ration is desirable, and the low cost and simplicity of a passive system is attractive.

IIy LIIIIIII IIIIIjI S

Fig.4 Double-slatted-wall tunnel configuration for b l u f f body testing

A version of the tolerant wind tunnel suitable for two-dimensional b l u f f body

testing is shown in Figure 4. I t is now a symmetrical configuration with both boun-
daries formed of a i r f o i l slats, and the blockage caused by the test model and i t s
wake relieved by flow past the slats into the plenums. The same kind of potential
flow model can be used to predict the best arrangement of the boundary slats, but
with some necessary modifications for the simulation of the wake of the test body.
These are based on a wake source model for b l u f f body potential flow (ref.13), a
conformal mapping method in which a c i r c l e is mapped onto a s l i t with the shape of
the b l u f f body surface upstream of the wake separation points. The portion of the
body inside the wake and the wake flow are not modelled. Thus, in the example of
Figure 5 the c i r c l e is mapped onto a normal f l a t s l i t which represents the upstream
298

face o f the rectangular section of Figure 4. Two symmetrical sources on the down-
stream surface of the c i r c l e , by opposing the streaming flow past the c i r c l e , create
symmetrical stagnation points on i t s surface. The strength and position of the
sources are chosen so that the stagnation points transform into the ends of the s l i t
and the stagnation streamlines i n t o smooth separation streamlines with separation
at a prescribed v e l o c i t y .

"

"f/I/////~

(a) (b)
Fig.5 Bluff-body tunnel flow model: a) Physical plane b) Transform plane

In the proposed a p p l i c a t i o n of the method in the presence of the a i r f o i l - s l a t t e d

boundaries, the same conformal mapping is used as f o r the i s o l a t e d body in a uniform
stream - a simple Joukowsky transformation f o r the example of Figure 5. Kennedy's
numerical surface v o r t i c i t y method is applied in the transform plane to the c i r c l e
and to the transforms of the a i r f o i l slats and s o l i d tunnel walls (which w i l l in
fact suffer very l i t t l e d i s t o r t i o n in the transformation from the physical plane,
since they are r e l a t i v e l y far from the o r i g i n of coordinates in both spaces.) The
wake source strength and position give two a d d i t i o n a l unknown quantities in the
numerical method. One of these is accounted for by the stream function being pre-
scribed at an a d d i t i o n a l control point just o f f the surface o f the c i r c l e on the
normal through the desired stagnation point. The other unknown would be accounted
for in the method of ref.13 by the requirement in the physical plane of a specified
separation v e l o c i t y , related through B e r n o u l l i ' s equation to the experimentally
determined base pressure c o e f f i c i e n t of the body, Cpb. For the unconstrained flow
Cpb is the only empirical input needed in the wake source model. In the constrained
wind tunnel flow, however, Cpb is a function of the constraining e f f e c t s , and the
condition f o r completing the wake source model must be reconsidered. Modi and
EI-Sherbiny ( r e f . 1 4 ) , in t h e i r a n a l y t i c a l adaptation of the wake source model to
symmetrical b l u f f body flows in the presence of s o l i d tunnel walls found that f i x i n g
the r e l a t i v e p o s i t i o n of the wake sources on the s l i t in the physical plane led to
good c o r r e l a t i o n s between the predicted and experimentally observed v a r i a t i o n of Cpb
with wall c o n s t r a i n t . On the other hand, in the present a p p l i c a t i o n the ideal
 299

a i r f o i l - s l a t t e d boundary configuration would reproduce the unconstrained flow

pattern around the test body, and this would correspond to the unconstrained-flow
positions of the wake sources, Therefore, the wake sources can be fixed in the
numerical solution in the transform plane at the angular positions on the c i r c l e
determined by the analytical solution for the unconstrained flow. When the problem
has been solved numerically in the transform plane, the results can be applied to
the body in the physical plane using the properties of the conformal transformation.
In this way a low-correction configuration of the a i r f o i l slats can be predicted,
and then tested.

4. DISCUSSION
Work on the calculations is in progress, and subsequently wind tunnel experiments
w i l l be carried out to seek confirmation of desirable tolerant a i r f o i l slat configur-
ations predicted by the calculations. However, some preliminary indications of the
a b i l i t y of a i r f o i l - s l a t t e d boundaries to produce low boundary corrections to b l u f f
body data can be obtained from a i r f o i l experiments in the single-slotted-wall config-
urations of Figure l by Williams (ref.15). Some of Williams' measurements were made
at angles of attack ~ greater than ~CLmax, the angle for maximum l i f t , and in these
measurements the a i r f o i l s are at least partly stalled, with flow separation from
the suction side producing a broad wake. The a i r f o i l s then become aerodynamically
b l u f f bodies, and a study of Williams' data shows that a slatted-boundary configura-
tion with open-area ratio g/s of 70% produces good results in this flow regime.

Co e

0.75 0
0 U
NACA0015 a = 2 0 °

0.50

+ Clark Y a = 15 °
0.25

0 /I I I I I ~
0 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
b/h
Fig.6 Effect of blockage on drag of stalled a i r f o i l s in single-slatted-wall tunnel

In Figure 6 results are shown for two a i r f o i l s tested at a (chord) Reynolds number
of 0.5(I0) 6 in the presence of the single-slotted-wall configuration with g/s of 70%.
3OO

Drag coefficient CD, based on projected frontal area, is plotted vs blockage ratio
b/h, and i t can be seen that CD. is almost constant for each a i r f o i l , and therefore
independent of blockage ratios as high as 25%, an encouraging result for the concept
of the tolerant tunnel.

5. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The research is supported by a grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering
Research Council of Canada.

REFERENCES
l H.C. Garner, E.W.E. Rogers, W.E.A. Acum, and E.C. Maskell, Subsonic Wind Tunnel
Wall Corrections, AGARDograph I09, October, 1966.
2 E.C. Maskell, A Theory of the Blockage Effects on Bluff Bodies and Stalled Wings
in a Closed Wind Tunnel, R.and M. 3400, A.R.C. London, 1963.
3 C.F. Cowdrey, The Application of Maskell's Theory of Wind-Tunnel Blockage to Very
Large Solid Models, N.P.L. Aero Report 1247, 1967.
4 J. Courchesne and A. Laneville, An Experimental Evaluation of the Blockage Effect
and Drag Coefficient of Two Dimensional Rectangular Bars Exposed to Smooth Flow,
Trans. A.S.M.E., Journal of Fluids Engineering, 1981.
5 D.M. Sykes, Blockage Corrections for Large Bluff Bodies in Wind Tunnels, Advances
in Road Vehicle Aerodynamics, BHRA, Cranfield, 1973, pp.311-321.
6 K.G. Ranga Raju and Vijaya Singh, Blockage Effects on Drag of Sharp-Edged Bodies,
Journal of Industrial Aerodynamics, ~, 1975-76, pp.301-309.
7 W.R. Sears, Self-Correcting Wind Tunnels, Aeronautical Journal, 7__88,February/March
1974, pp.80-89.
8 U. Ganzer, Wind Tunnels with Adaptive Walls for Reducing Wall Interference,
Z. Flugwiss, 3, 1979, pp.129-133.
9 L.G. Stafford, A Streamline Wind Tunnel Working Section for Testing at High
Blockage Ratios, Proceedings Fourth Colloquium Industrial Aerodynamics, Road
Vehicle Aerodynamics, Aachen, June, 1980, pp.35-51.
10 G.V. Parkinson and A.K. Lim, On the Use of Slotted Walls in Two-Dimensional
Testing of Low Speed A i r f o i l s , C,A.S.I. Transactions, 4, September, 1971, pp.81-83
11 G.V. Parkinson, C.D. Williams, and A. Malek, Development of a Low-Correction Wind
Tunnel Wall Configuration for Testing High L i f t A i r f o i l s , Proceedings Eleventh
Congress I.C.A.S., Lisbon, Paper B2-14, September, 1978.
12 J.L. Kennedy, The Design and Analysis of A i r f o i l Sections, Ph.D. Thesis,
University of Alberta, 1977.
13 G.V. Parkinson and T. Jandali, A Wake Source Model for Bluff Body Potential Flow,
Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 40, 1970, pp.557-594.
14 V.J. Modi and S.E. EI-Sherbiny, A Free-Streamline Model for Bluff Bodies in
Confined Flow, Trans. A.S.M.E., Journal of Fluids Engineering, 98, September,
1977, pp.585-592.
15 C.D. Williams, A New Slotted Wall Method for Producing Low Boundary Corrections
in Two-Dimensional A i r f o i l Testing, Ph.D. Thesis, University of British Columbia,
1975.