• Ms. Judy Bergmann
  • MIRATEK, Inc.
  • 321 McBryde Hall
  • 2:00 p.m.
  • Faculty Host: Dr. Joseph Schetz

The presentation will be in two parts. The first part will provide a brief overview of wind tunnel basics and look at a selection of wind tunnel test types at AEDC (Arnold Engineering Development Complex), mostly performed in 16T, the 16-foot transonic wind tunnel. Some of the tests discussed date back to the early years of 16T, but most were more recent. The second part of the presentation highlights some of the current projects in hypersonics being overseen by Test and Evaluation/Science and Technology (T&E S&T), High-Speed Systems Test (HSST) of the DoD Test Resources Management Center (TRMC).

Wind tunnel testing dates back to the late 1800s. A basic wind tunnel was designed and used extensively by the Wright brothers in the first decade of the 1900s to refine the shape of the airfoil used on the first powered aircraft. The wind tunnels at AEDC provide some of the best flow quality and highest productivity of any in the world. Many types of tests are performed in the wind tunnels at AEDC, some considered typical, others less common. Basic wind tunnel operation is described along with several of the types of tests performed at AEDC.

The hypersonic flight regime has been studied and tested for more than 60 years. Developments in the past several years have advanced the state of the art significantly. T&E S&T is tasked with providing technical oversight of programs that devise methodologies for ground testing hypersonic flight regime technologies. Several of the projects that have been completed recently or are still in progress are described.