Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering
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Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, & Nuclear Engineering
Undergraduate Programs
Student research photo
The tunnel also plays a role in capstone engineering classes such as Fixed Wing Aircraft Design, where it is used to test the student design team vehicles.

Quick Facts about the Subsonic Wind Tunnel Laboratory

  • Custom Fabricated Wind Tunnel
  • 24"x24"x96" test section
  • 200 HP motor with variable speed drive
  • 10 to 300 fps test velocity and Re > 300,000
  • Recirculating design with low noise and turbulence
  • Integrated Labview Data Acquisition and Control
  • State of the art instrumentation systems
  • Half strut and sting with 6 component balance
    (for measuring lift and drag)
  • Automated 3-D traverse system
Students in the Rensselaer’s Mechanical, Aerospace, and Nuclear Engineering (MANE) department began using its newest piece of equipment, a subsonic wind tunnel. The closed-loop tunnel features a 2x2x8 test section, with a two-stage 200 HP fan providing continuously variable speeds from 10 to over 300 feet per second.
The closed-loop tunnel features a 2x2x8 test section, with a two-stage 200 HP fan providing continuously variable speeds from 10 to over 300 feet per second.
A closed-loop tunnel

While the wind tunnel is research quality, its primary use is for undergraduate education. In the senior-level Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, the instruments and tunnel elements are introduced to the students sequentially, allowing for more complex experiments with only modest training on the equipment in each session. Thus, as they proceed, students gain a working knowledge of the equipment while focusing mainly on the experiment itself and the flow phenomenon involved. This also allows more sections of the classes to be accommodated, so each student has more hands-on time with the equipment.

The wind tunnel lab features a new state-of-the-art instrumentation suite. Controlling the tunnel is a Rensselaer- developed, Labview-based data acquisition and control system, which also tracks operating conditions. Measurements of pressure, detailed velocity, and aero- dynamic forces can be recorded. Also, the computer-controlled movable top panel and three-dimensional traverse system allow probes to be positioned throughout most of the test section for detailed surveys.