| IIHR
constructed a portable, open jet, Icing Wind Tunnel (IWT) funded in part
by a grant received from NSF in 1982 and placed it into service in 1985.
The wind tunnel was fabricated so that it can be readily disassembled
and wheeled to either a test plinth located outdoors or inside the LTFF.
When used outdoors it is placed in a mobile trailer type building 8 ft
(2.4 m) wide and 40 ft (12 m) long purchased for that purpose. It also
is used in a non-icing mode as a regular wind tunnel. The wind tunnel is
34 ft (10.4 m) long and has a 2.0 ft (0.6 m) square, 8.0 ft (2.4 m) long
test section with transparent walls, bottom, and top. It has a vaneaxial
fan driven by a 20 horsepower (15 kW) motor that will produce wind
speeds up to 90 ft/s (27 m/s) through the wind tunnel. An electronic
speed controller is used to set wind speeds. |
Two nozzles
release water droplets into the air stream at a distance of about 20 ft
(6 m) upstream of the test section. Compressed air and pressure-driven
water flow are fed to the nozzles in such a manner that the size and
areal distribution of water droplets can be controlled. Honeycomb
sections are located downstream of the fan, and upstream of the water
injection nozzles, in order to groom the airflow through the wind
tunnel. A two-component laser-Doppler velocimeter is used for measuring
droplet velocities. |
