Design and performance of an open jet wind tunnel for aero-acoustic measurement

This paper presents the design and performance of an open jet, blow down wind tunnel that was newly commissioned in the anechoic chamber at the ISVR, University of Southampton, UK. This wind tunnel is intended for the measurement of airfoil trailing edge self-noise but can be extended to other aeroacoustic applications. With the primary objectives of achieving acoustically quiet and low turbulence air jet up to 120 m/s through a 0.15 m × 0.45 m nozzle, several novel noise and flow control techniques were implemented in the design. Both the acoustical and aerodynamic performances of the open jet wind tunnel were examined in detail after its fabrication. It is found that the background noise of the facility is adequately low for a wide range of exit jet velocity. The potential core of the free jet is characterized by a low turbulence level of about 0.1%. Benchmark tests by submerging a NACA0012 airfoil with tripped and untripped boundary layers at 0° and 10° angles of attack respectively into the potential core of the free jet were carried out. It was confirmed that the radiating airfoil trailing edge self-noise has levels significantly above the rig noise over a wide range of frequencies. The low noise and low turbulence characteristics of this open jet wind tunnel are comparable to the best facilities in the world, and for its size it is believed to be the first of its kind in the UK.