engineering

Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel

Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel rather than just read about it. In short: The Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel is a medium-scale wind tunnel located at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia. With a test section measuring 6 by 6 ft (1.8 by 1.8 m) and maximum wind speeds of approximately 262.6 ft/s (80.0 m/s), it is one of the largest university-owned wind tunnels in the United States, and is used for a wide variety of research projec…

Key takeaways

Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel is a medium-scale wind tunnel located at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) in Blacksburg, Virginia. With a test section measuring 6 by 6 ft (1.8 by 1.8 m) and maximum wind speeds of approximately 262.6 ft/s (80.0 m/s), it is one of the largest university-owned wind tunnels in the United States, and is used for a wide variety of research projects within the college as well as being contracted out for commercial use, especially product testing. Professor William Devenport is the current director, and Dr. Aurelien Borgoltz is the assistant director.

History The Stability Wind Tunnel was first built by the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA), the predecessor to NASA, at Langley Research Center in 1940. The wind tunnel was used by NACA for deriving the dynamic stability of fixed models for nearly two decades. In 1958, shortly after being declared surplus, it was acquired by Virginia Tech and was attached to the university's Randolph Hall, where it was re-activated in 1961, and remains active to this day, currently being operated by the Department of Aerospace and Ocean Engineering.

Technical details The Stability Wind Tunnel is powered by a 600-horsepower motor which turns a 14 ft (4.3 m) propeller. In the 1990s, the fan was updated with new, custom-made blades built by Prince Aircraft Company. With the usual set-up, the wind tunnel can, at max velocity, attain a Reynolds Number of over 5,000,000. The removable test section currently in use in the tunnel utilizes stretched Kevlar walls which allow sufficient air flow to exit the system while not disrupting the airflow within the test section. This causes an absence of background noise allows researchers to monitor the sounds coming from the test section with microphones in order to gain data regarding the airflow and turbulence of smooth airfoils and other objects. Along with chambers placed alongside the test section, this leads to the current test section being called "anechoic". The majority of the data is currently received and analyzed by a National Instruments mainframe, alongside a number of amplifiers and other assorted equipment.

Commercial use The Stability Wind Tunnel has been utilized for research by a number of private organizations. These include a NASA-sponsored acoustic test regarding the landing gear of the Boeing 777 and simulated maneuvers of a scale aircraft in order to obtain data for descent of the aircraft.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel

In research: Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Buildings and structures in Blacksburg, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wind tunnels, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel in simple terms?

Why does Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Virginia Tech Stability Wind Tunnel.