Wall Interference Correction Method for Kevlar Wall Test Section

Abstract

This Paper describes a new method of correcting the wind tunnel wall interference of permeable Kevlar test section walls. The classical three-dimensional panel method is extended to flows in a Kevlar-walled test section and modified to improve its general predictability. The results computed using this enhanced panel method are in good agreement with experimental results with regard to the pressure distributions on a wind tunnel model and Kevlar wall surfaces and the Kevlar wall deformation. With this new tool, which can compute flows in a Kevlar-walled wind tunnel precisely, it is possible to compute the disturbance flows due to the walls correctly and separately from those due to the wind tunnel model. The effects of the wind tunnel walls on blockage and downwash of the flow in the wind tunnel are estimated by calculating the disturbance flow velocity due to the walls at the model reference point. Wall interference corrections using this new method are applied to a high-lift semispan wing model installed in a Kevlar-walled test section, and the results demonstrate that the method is practicable and reliable.