Ultra Low Reynolds Number Airfoil Testing Facility

This paper documents research being performed under a SBIR Phase II program funded by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center. The paper will discuss the design, set-up, and initial testing of a new ultra low Reynolds number water tunnel airfoil testing facility. The new water tunnel 2-D airfoil facility is designed to test airfoil sections at low Reynolds numbers ranging from 20,000 to 110,000. Force and moment results for the airfoil sections are obtained through surface static pressures and wake pressure measurements. These low Reynolds number, very low dynamic pressure measurements are complicated by the water test medium in the form of large pressure tube equalization time lags. Both the model and acquisition system have been designed to minimize the measurement system response times. In addition to the system design and implementation, initial pressure and wake measurements are presented.