Adaptive Test Section.
When every tenth of a millimeter counts …
What makes an aircraft more aerodynamic? This question is answered by the Transonic Wind Tunnel in Göttingen (DNW-TWG). A modernization shall increase the quality and performance of the wind tunnel test facility. Trendelkamp is designing and manufacturing the adaptive test section.
The challenge: The cross-sectional geometry of the test section can be varied by movable drives. The highly elastic flow sheets made of special metal must deform only in the elastic deformation range of the material, but with a repeatability of a few tenths of a millimeter. The adjustable test section is used to influence the local pressure fields within the test section.
Sophisticated simulations made possible.
The adaptive test section in the wind tunnel produces a variety of special simulations and leads to important research results in the field of aerodynamics. The flexible plate system can be driven into several different flow configurations with a minimum bending radius of 700 mm. Typical research includes simulations of wing sections with different angles of attack and reentry configurations. This challenge, which required a high level of flexibility paired with absolute precision, was met successfully by the Trendelkamp team.
Wind tunnel specifications:
Test section dimensions: 1 m × 1 m × 4.5 m
Contraction ratio 1:16
Drive power: 12 MW
Static pressure: 0.3 ÷ 1.5 × 105 Pa
Dynamic pressure (Max): 0.53 × 105 Pa
Temperature range (antechamber): 293 ÷ 315 K
Mach number: 0.3 ÷ 0.9 (adaptive test section)
Reynolds number (max, Iref = 0.1 m): 1.8 × 106
