Design, Fabrication, and Characterization of an Anechoic Wind Tunnel Facility

The design, fabrication, and preliminary characterization of an anechoic wind tunnel facility at the University of Florida are presented. A previously existing and ISO 3745 validated 100 Hz anechoic chamber is upgraded to incorporate an open-jet anechoic wind tunnel facility suitable for airframe noise studies. The wind tunnel is driven by a 224 kW ( ) 300 HP , 3 69 m s ( ) 147,000 cfm centrifugal fan controlled by a variable frequency drive. Airflow enters the wind tunnel through a settling duct with a honeycomb section and a set of four screens for the purposes of flow straightening and turbulence reduction, respectively. An optimized, minimum length, 3-D contraction designed using various computational methods accelerates the flow into a rectangular test section that measures 0.74 m ( ) 29" by