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The Flow Research Unit has a proud experimentalist tradition, evident in the many
facilities developed over the years for research in steady and unsteady flows across
a wide range of Mach numbers.
Much of the design and manufacture of these facilities is done in house, and has
been possible because of the excellent standard of the School s workshop. |
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LOW SPEED WINDTUNNELS |
 | | Draw-down Windtunnel - 1.5m x 1.5m Test Section
- Speed Range: 0 - 20 m/s
Last used for a study of full scale chimney and
rooftop extractors. |
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 | | Continuous Windtunnel - 900mm x 600mm Elliptical Cross Section
- Speed Range: 0 -80 m/s
Currently being used to perform a complete
aerodynamic analysis of a microlight aircraft design. | 
F4 Phantom II - model used to
demonstrate static stability |
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SUPERSONIC WINDTUNNEL |
 | | Blow-down - 100mm x 100mm Cross Section
- Mach 1.4 - 3.6
Currently being used to investigate shock wave
interactions in non-planar aircraft engine inlets. | 
Schlieren images of
different inlet geometries
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HYPERSONIC WINDTUNNEL |
 | | Hypersonic Windtunnel - 50mm x 50m Cross Section
- Mach 4, 5 and 6
Last used to investigate shock wave reflection. | 
15 wedges at Mach 5 |
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SHOCK TUBES |
 | | Automated Shock Tube - 180mm x 100mm Test Section
- Mach 1.1 - 2.0 normal shocks
Currently being used to investigate supersonic bow
shock reflections in valleys.
Tubes can be developed as needed. | 
Schlieren image of shock propagation
through a rectangular valley |
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BIFURCATED SHOCK TUBE |
 | | Bifurcated Shock Tube - 160mm diameter Test Section
- Mach 1.4 - 1.6
Currently being used for examination of shock
diffraction and shock vortex interactions.
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Holographic interferometry image
of shock-vortex interaction |
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LIQUID SHOCK TUBE |
 | | Vertical Liquid Shock Tube - 56mm inner pipe diameter
- Gas-accelerated piston induces liquid shock
Last used in the forming of metal tubes and plates.
Extensions into the study of detailed metal figuring
are underway. | 
Deformed metal samples |
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WATER TABLE |
 | | Water Table - 500mm x 500mm useful area
The water table is a useful tool for examining 2D
supersonic flows. Currently being used to investigate
2D shock interactions around various bodies. | 
Images of wave interaction
using water table |
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DROP-HAMMER FACILITY |
 | | Drop Weight Tester - Dual carriage system - pneumatic activation
- 4m max. drop height
Currently begin used to study liquid orifice discharge
coefficients under transient high-pressure conditions. | 
Orifice plates |
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COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMICS (CFD) |
 | | Software
An efficient in-house moving boundary Euler code
was developed and used extensively to study
supersonic phenomena. We are also a user of the FLUENT CFD package. We have considerable experience in validation of
CFD results for ourselves and in association with
research institutions in the US, Europe and Japan. | 
Shock interaction of passing
supersonic bodies |
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| VISUALIZATION EQUIPMENT |
 | | Equipment - Lasers - Pulsed Ruby and Argon s
- 1000 frames per second high-speed camera
- 1 million fps high-speed camera
(10 images superimposed) - High-speed pressure transducers, digital
oscilloscopes etc...
Images using shadowgraph, schlieren, holographic
interferometry and LVS (Laser Vapour Screen) | 
Slice of shock field using
Laser Vapour Screen |
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