An assessment of flow quality in an open test section wind tunnel

The subsonic wind tunnel facility at Mississippi State University has been converted to an open test section configuration. An experimental setup was developed which is easily configurable to allow for further research. Measurements of flow quality over select portions of the test section were made to attain a basic understanding of the performance of the new configuration. A program was developed in LabVIEW to control a 3-axis traverse and perform necessary data reduction. The traverse control program was developed to perform data acquisition using a hot-film probe to facilitate the necessary measurements. Data was gathered at two wind tunnel velocity settings over several test section locations. Results of the testing program yielded recommendations on the use of the open configuration. This paper documents the procedure and setup of the testing program to include discussion of the control/data acquisition program and a discussion of the findings and recommendations.