RJ Mitchell Wind Tunnel

The RJ Mitchell wind tunnel at the University of Southampton is 3.5m wide x 2.4m high with up to 40m/s matched wind and road speeds. A moving ground with boundary layer suction is used for automotive and motorsport projects. The facility can also accommodate testing of UAVs and fixed wing drones. The wind tunnel hosts an in-car balance system which can be used for race car work and drag reduction for lorries and high speed trains. A six-component overhead balance can be used for anything from fixed wing drones to ship models and underwater autonomous vehicles. A 5-hole probe system can be used with motion capture to do real-time volumetric flow analysis around models. The uniqueness of the RJ Mitchell Tunnel is its size - it can fit large scale models and full scale objects. Athletes can be tested in person within the wind tunnel. This enables matching Reynolds numbers which is great for high fidelity experiments. One of the big applications for the RJ Mitchell tunnel wind tunnel is for energy efficiency in aeronautical and maritime applications. This is important toward reaching our goal of net zero carbon emissions. Check out the National Wind Tunnel Facility website here for more information: www.NWTF.ac.uk Thank you to Dr Dave Marshall and Dr Christina Vanderwel for taking part in this film.