NASA NTRS · 20210013460
General Overview of NASA LARC AETC Wind Tunnel Facilities
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Roman Paryz. 2021-04-12. LARC Wind Tunnel Test Capabilities. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20210013460
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The 9- by 15-Foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel at NASA Glenn Research Center was refurbished in a major construction project starting in June 2017 and ending in March 2019, with some interruptions. Studies supporting this effort started years earlier and continued through the end of construction. The focus of the refurbishment project was to reduce the background noise in the test section during operation. The major focus of the supporting studies was the wind tunnel flow surface. These studies included roughness noise testing of samples, impedance measurements, computational simulations and analysis. NASA Langley and Ames Research Centers both contributed, as did Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. This report describes the major efforts and findings of the supporting studies.
This report describes an acoustic improvement project carried out in the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) 9- by 15-Foot Low Speed Wind Tunnel (9x15 LSWT) and the effect on the acoustic measurement capabilities of the facility. The improvement project began in June 2017 and ended in March 2019, with some work stoppages in between. The main purpose of the project was to reduce the background noise of the facility to enable better signal-to-noise ratio measurements of quiet aircraft propulsion concepts. The term background noise refers to the noise measured inside the facility without a model installed. This report discusses the details of the project, the motivation for the upgrade and the history of the facility background noise levels that motivated the upgrade. This report is one of a two-volume set documenting the 9x15 LSWT acoustic improvement. The companion report[1] documents the “supporting studies” that were conducted as part of the improvement project, but do not relate explicitly to the 9x15 LSWT. The present report is focused specifically on studies conducted by NASA regarding the 9x15 LSWT and thus may be less broadly applicable to other facilities or projects.
The Unitary Plan Wind Tunnel consists of the 11 x 11- Foot Transonic Wind Tunnel and the 9 x 7 foot Supersonic Wind Tunnel. The four 65,000hp electric motors that drive the wind tunnel compressors require periodic maintenance. In order to inspect the motors without the removal of drive shaft components, the stator must be shifted away from the motor. This process is referred to as "Stator Shift". Video is mp4 formatted with runtime of 2 mins 54 secs.