Car in wind tunnel

Wind Tunnel Testing

The Wolfson Unit offers several wind tunnel experiment services including: measurement of aerodynamic forces and moments, flow visualisation and other measurement techniques (e.g. LDA and PIV).

Our Services

The Wolfson Unit offers services to a range of sectors. This is perhaps most evident in our wind tunnel testing which ranges from sports performance equipment optimisation, sailing rig analysis, analysis for civil engineering projects and more! We can apply our skill set to almost any aerodynamic problem.

Often a combination of Wolfson services can give the best solution to a problem, possibly combining use of our commercial software with testing, providing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, or accessing other specialised services within the University. A sample of the kind of wind tunnel testing we completed is listed below.

Wind tunnel sailing yacht dynomometer

Access to Experts

Expect direct access to your assigned engineer who offer consistent service and continuity at a level your business, and
project, demands.

Optimise aerodynamic performance with us

Independent

As a trusted organisation, attached to the University of Southampton, the Wolfson Unit is able to offer truly independent studies to industry, without any commercial conflicts.

Sailing Yacht Aerodynamics 

Sailing Yacht Aerodynamics 

The Wolfson Unit uses wind tunnels to predict and refine the performance of sailing yacht and wind assisted vessel sail plans. 

Since the turn of the century the size and complexity of superyachts has increased to the extent that testing of these yachts has become almost routine, and indeed the challenges in designing a successful 100m sailing yacht match those of designing a racing yacht. 

Gathering experimental data is only the start of the process, to impact meaningfully on the design, specific effects must be teased out of the data, and these are then used for performance prediction studies. 

Also, assembling the drawings and attending the model tests offers a great opportunity to create meaningful interactions within the project team at an early stage. 

Sailing yacht in wind tunnel with designer standing next to it.
Test programmes include:
  • Fully rigged vessels tested to establish the performance of the rig. 
  • Tests on complete models of hull and rig using purpose built dynamometry and remote control sheeting system. 
  • Derivation of basic sail force coefficients for performance studies. 
  • Establish the rig centre of effort for helm balance calculations. 
  • Development of multi-masted rigs with practical yet efficient sail plans. 
  • Study of the effect of sail shape on performance of offwind sails and optimisation of sheet leads. 
  • Evaluation of effect of rig proportions on rating and performance. 
  • Establish knockdown wind loads for rig strength calculations and stability. 
  • Flow visualisation experiments to map streamlines and check flow characteristics. 
  • Pollution of ventilation intakes by exhaust emissions. 
  • Passenger comfort due to exhaust gasses. 
  • Validation of computational fluid dynamics tools. 
  • Measurement of performance of hull and appendages (keels and rudders). 
Enquire about sailing yacht tests
Ship, Power and Work Boat Aerodynamics

Ship, Power and Work Boat Aerodynamics

The wind tunnels are used for a wide range of tests on ship superstructures and fast craft. They may be used for flow visualisation on towing tank hull models, as the dry environment facilitates visualisation and modifications. The moving ground belts ensure accurate representation of the flow beneath planing hulls and hovercraft. Traditional qualitative methods of flow visualisation are now supplemented by techniques such as Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV).

Test programmes include:
  • Funnel design and determination of smoke plume trajectory. 
  • Pollution of ventilation intakes by exhaust emissions. 
  • Passenger comfort due to exhaust gasses. 
  • Air flow across passenger and flight decks.
  • Wind heeling tests and roll forces in beam winds. 
  • Wind resistance of superstructures. 
  • Forces and passenger comfort on very high speed craft. 
  • Hovercraft development. 
Enquire about vessel aerodynamics
Industrial, Civil and Transport Aerodynamics

Industrial, Civil and Transport Aerodynamics

The Wolfson Unit uses the wind tunnels to carry out testing for a wide variety of organisations operating in many different engineering disciplines, to help overcome aerodynamic problems. The testing has not been limited to the wind tunnels, as on many occasions special rigs have been built to model a complete internal flow system or Unit engineers have travelled to a client’s site to take measurements on an existing installation.

Marine
  • Measurement of moments and forces on an underwater towed instrument pod. 
  • Measurement of moments and forces on high speed craft, including wave piercing catamarans and hovercraft. 
  • Performance testing of renewable energy devices. 
  • Helideck environment – Flow measurements to show local airflow across flight and passenger decks and to improve the design of funnels and superstructures.
Enquire About Marine Wind Tunnel Testing
Aeronautical
  • Measurement of lift and drag forces and moments on aircraft external aerials.
  • Studies on the external air flows around an airfield fog sensor to prevent internal condensation.
  • Drone development.
Enquire About Aeronautical Wind Tunnel Testing
Vehicles
  • Racing car development using the moving ground. 
  • Measurement and reduction of drag on lorries and trailers.
  • Development and manufacture of laser equipment to measure spray generated by lorries on wet roads.
Enquire About Vehicles Wind Tunnel Testing
Sport

The Wolfson Unit specialises in sports areas where there is a significant influence from aerodynamic and/or hydrodynamic forces. This necessitates the use of experimental facilities such as wind tunnels and towing tanks. 

We have worked with a number of National Governing Bodies and professional sports teams to aid the performance of their athletes and development and selection of equipment.

Enquire About Sport Wind Tunnel Testing
Enquire about experimental aerodynamics

Help and Support

If you need any support with your project, please get in touch.

Contact our team

Related Services

Frequently asked questions

A wind tunnel lets you test a fully rigged vessel and measure real forces rather than predict them. It gives you basic sail force coefficients for performance studies, the rig centre of effort for helm balance and stability calculations, and knockdown wind loads for rig strength.

The controlled environment makes flow visualisation and physical modification far easier than working on the water, so changes can be tested and re-tested quickly within a single session. As part of the University of Southampton we can offer genuinely independent studies with no commercial conflict.

Wind tunnel testing requires a physical model, so each geometry you want to evaluate has to be built, which takes time and cost. That makes it less suited to comparing many design variants quickly, where CFD can assess the relative merits of geometry changes without building anything.

CFD also gives a better understanding of the flow behaviour behind the numbers. Where wind tunnel testing wins is the accuracy of the forces it measures. We offer both and will advise which suits your problem rather than defaulting to the facility we happen to own.

The cost depends directly on what is to be tested and the level of instrumentation required to meet the objectives, so indicative costs are difficult to give. Often full scale instrumented models must be manufactured, or client supplied equipment adapted to fit the dynamometer, which increases the overall project cost.

We provide a complete wind tunnel testing service: designing the experiment and its specifications with you, building scale test models or preparing your equipment, conducting the testing in one of the tunnels here on site with instrumentation ranging from force and moment measurement to surface and wake pressures, flow visualisation (including PIV and PTV) and structural response with DIC, then analysing the data and delivering the results in clear reports and presentations prepared by our experimental aerodynamics team.

We use two main wind tunnels on site. The R J Mitchell tunnel has a working section 3.5m wide, 2.4m high and 10.5m long, with a wind speed range of 4 to 40 m/s at less than 0.2% turbulence and an air chiller controlling airflow temperature at 19°C.

The No. 1 tunnel has a high speed section 2.1m wide, 1.5m high and 4.4m long with a wind speed range of 4 to 45 m/s, and a larger low speed section, 4.6m wide by 3.7m high, which allows sailing rigs to be tested at larger scale. Where a project needs conditions these cannot provide, we have used other wind tunnels to meet specific specifications.