Case Studies
The future of freight: NWTF team design AI-assisted, moveable flaps to cut aerodynamic drag on trucks
A research team at the National Wind Tunnel Facility (NWTF) has characterised the dynamic air flow around a scale model truck, informing the design of intelligent, adjustable flaps to reduce…
Plymouth researchers use Free Access Scheme for Towing Tank tests
Researchers from the University of Plymouth’s Maritime Simulation and COAST laboratories used the NWTF Towing Tank at the University of Southampton in late August, conducting a week of towing experiments…
Wrexham University Researcher at RJ Mitchcell Wind Tunnel
Researcher mobility is a key initiative of the NWTF, encouraging researchers to travel from their host institution to carry out an experiment at an NWTF to enhance their research. In…
NWTF Spotlight: The High Supersonic Wind Tunnel (HSST)
Operating at Mach 4, 5 & 6, the High Supersonic Wind Tunnel (HSST) facility at the University of Manchester has excellent optical access allowing measurement techniques such as Schlieren, PSP,…
Researcher Mobility: Cameron Wallace, Loughborough University
Researcher mobility is a key initiative of the NWTF, encouraging researchers to travel from their host institution to carry out an experiment at an NWTF to enhance their research. In…
Boldrewood Towing Tank, University of Southampton
The Boldrewood Towing Tank is the only facility of its scale based at a UK university and as a member of the National Wind Tunnel Facility (NWTF), it’s a national…
Herringbone riblet surface structures reduce shock-induced flow separation.
Researchers at the University of Manchester, led by Professor Shan Zhong, have found that herringbone riblets – inspired by the wing surface structures of birds, could provide improvements to the…
Miniaturisation of Flow Diagnostic Measurements (miniPSP)
This project, funded by Innovate UK in collaboration with the Aircraft Research Association (ARA) built upon the years of experience of the two institutions at utilising and developing flow diagnostic…
Bio-inspired micro-scale surface structures for reducing shockwave-induced flow separation.
Bio-inspired micro-scale surface structures have been successfully employed to suppress shockwave-induced flow separation for the first time as demonstrated in a wind tunnel experiment undertaken at The University of Manchester….
Flow diagnostic technique development for industrial-scale experiments.
A PhD project sponsored by the European Space Agency has investigated experimental techniques that can be applied to high-speed wind tunnel tests to investigate the breakup of satellites and other…
Airborne transmission of COVID-19 carrier particles during exercise
The Department of Aeronautics is conducting research into the inter-person transmission risk of Covid-19 during outdoor exercise. The aim of the project is to obtain detailed data on wake concentrations…
Race Car Testing at the 10 x 5 Wind Tunnel
The design and manufacture of racing cars is a highly successful sector of the UK’s engineering industry and the Department of Aeronautics at Imperial College has been working with the…