State-of-the-art water and wind tunnels boost Southampton research tackling air and noise pollution
Three new fluid dynamics facilities opening at the University of Southampton will augment world-leading UK aerodynamics and aeroacoustics research that is helping shape a sustainable future.
The newly installed Recirculating Water Tunnel (RWT), Boundary Layer Find Tunnel (BLWT) and Anechoic Wind Tunnel (AWT) at Boldrewood Innovation Campus will build understanding of air pollution flow in cities, skin-friction drag that increases emissions and aeroacoustics of aircraft and rotorcraft.
The experimental facilities, which are located alongside the UK’s largest
University towing tank
, will be used by the University’s renowned
Aerodynamics and Flight Mechanics (AFM) research group
within the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
The RWT is a large, raised flume driven by two parallel axial propeller pumps that can circulate the water at a maximum velocity of 1m/s. Two electromagnetic flow meters measure the flow rates along an 8m-long, 1.2m-wide and 0.9m-deep measurement section.
The BLWT and AWT have both been designed as Göttingen’ type wind tunnels. The BLWT is installed across two floors of the building and includes five removable segments that can reach a maximum flow speed of 45m/s. Its test section is 12m long with an inner cross-section measuring 12m x 10m.
The AWT contains an open jet section within an anechoic chamber. The unique facility is part of the
National Wind Tunnel Facility
and is the only one of its type in the UK. The facility has a cross section of 1m x 0.8m and can reach speeds of up to 80 m/s to match landing speeds of aircraft.
Professor Bharathram Ganapathisubramani
, Head of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Southampton, says: “These state-of-the-art facilities in Building 185, together with our expertise in development and application of advanced flow diagnostics, will ensure that we are at the forefront of fluid dynamics research relevant to engineering and environmental applications.
“These facilities nicely complement the computational infrastructure and modelling expertise that we already have at Southampton. In Aeronautics and Astronautics, we are particularly excited about combining numerical simulations and physical experiments to develop new data-driven models that can revolutionise design of future aerospace systems.”
Immediate RWT research led by
Dr Christina Vanderwel
will simulate wind patterns around buildings and their impact on the air quality of cities.
The project
, which is funded through a Future Leaders Fellowship, will print 3D scale models of suburban and urban landscapes, then inject dye into a water tunnel to observe how pollution spreads.
Dr Vanderwel says: “Both RWT and BLWT facilities have been designed to have extra-long test sections so that we can study boundary layer development. This is really crucial to properly simulate atmospheric flows and to maximise the resolution of our measurements of flows around building models.”
Once filled with water, the RWT has been designed with sustainability in mind and is independent of the water supply. The facility has four interconnected floor-standing water tanks and a water treatment system with a UV steriliser to ensure the water quality throughout the system.
The BLWT facility is powered by a 1.8m diameter axial fan and includes a cooling unit to maintain a constant air temperature in the air circuit. Experiments will include
UKRI-funded research
led by Professor Ganapathisubramani, where the reduction of skin-friction drag by even a few percent would translate to reduced fuel consumption and emissions in the transport and energy sectors.
Further research will explore
secondary currents in turbulent flows over rough walls
, alongside several postgraduate research projects that will benefit from the new facility.