Mach 3.5 Supersonic Wind Tunnel S-4

Mach 3.5 Supersonic Wind Tunnel S-4
Mach 3.5 Supersonic Wind Tunnel S-4

The VKI S-4 tunnel is a blowdown wind tunnel operating at high stagnation pressure equipped with a planar Mach 3.5 contoured nozzle. It has a moderate-sized test section with a cross-sectional area of 80x100 mm^2. The tunnel's simplicity and cost-effectiveness make it ideal for academic purposes and both fundamental and applied research.

Equipped with a fine optical system, the VKI S-4 tunnel supports Shadowgraph, coloured-Schlieren and Background-Oriented Schlieren measurement techniques. Aerodynamic balances and a wide variety of other measurement techniques may be employed. Depending on the stagnation pressure conditions, the tunnel can achieve run times ranging from 8 to 25 minutes, during which the model incidence can be varied continuously.

 

Mach 3.5 Supersonic Wind Tunnel S-4
Schematic of the VKI S4 blowdown tunnel

 

Mach 3.5 Supersonic Wind Tunnel S-4
Schematic of the VKI S4 experimental setup for background oriented schlieren (BOS) measurements

 

Mach 3.5 Supersonic Wind Tunnel S-4
LES simulation of the VKI-S4 nozzle expansion

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