RIT - Department of Mechanical Engineering

RIT Wind Tunnel

Location: 2366 Gleason

Description/Projects:
RIT wind tunnel is a closed-circuit low speed wind tunnel with a 4 ft. X 2 ft. test section, used by undergraduate and graduate students for coursework, design projects and MS theses.

A new wind tunnel test section was designed and fabricated in house recently. This is part of a major renovation program of the RIT wind tunnel. This plan will assist the aerospace and thermo-fluids undergraduate students, graduate students and the faculty for testing and research of modern aerodynamic tools. As part of this process, a new 3-degree of freedom traverse system has been added to the wind tunnel. The wind tunnel instrumentation will include a new sting balance, new actuation system for the balance, new pressure transducers, probes and data acquisition system.

There are several new projects waiting to be tested after the basic testing phase and the calibration of the wind tunnel are over. The focus of these projects will be both aerodynamics and interdisciplinary topics. Some of the new testing methods will be accompanied by a new course offering in Experimental Aerodynamics.