South Australia's first industrial-scale wind tunnel has been launched by the University of Adelaide.

 

The new $5 million Adelaide Wind Tunnel, with wind speeds up to 180km/h, will offer a research and testing facility for many industries including defence, energy, aerospace, construction, automotive and sports.

 

Located at the University of Adelaide's Thebarton Campus, the Adelaide Wind Tunnel is the second-largest wind tunnel in Australia and can be used to simulate objects in motion or varying wind conditions, with both wind-engineering and aerodynamic test sections.

 

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Mike Brooks said that local industry previously had to go interstate for such testing, and the Adelaide Wind Tunnel would provide a significant boost to South Australia's research and development capability, and would draw further business from interstate and overseas.

 

"The wind tunnel will support the University's research activities in energy technology and defence, sports engineering, acoustics and aerospace engineering. It will help South Australia push ahead with its clean energy development, and support our athletes."

 

The tunnel offers the ability to test different designs under repeatable conditions to measure drag and other performance factors, and to test structural performance under different wind conditions.

 

Examples of applications include:

  • Measuring the drag of a cyclist to assess different helmet and bike designs and posture;
  • Measuring how much energy wind turbines produce at different wind speeds, and how noise may be reduced by varying blade design and orientation;
  • Assessing the potential impact of a new building or other structure through altered wind movement and speed;
  • Testing the aerodynamics of various aircraft and aerospace structures;
  • Environmental studies such as soil erosion through atmospheric flow simulation.
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Features of the wind tunnel include multiple working sections; a turntable; flow visualisation and laser diagnostics capabilities; 3D vibration scanning; and the ability to measure noise and acoustics.

 

The Adelaide Wind Tunnel was funded with support from the Premier's Science and Research Fund and the Sir Ross and Sir Keith Smith Fund.

 

More information is here.