0.57 m x 0.57 m altitude icing wind tunnel

Scientist looking through wind tunnel window

Altitude icing wind tunnel

The altitude icing wind tunnel (AIWT) at NRC is used to simulate in-flight atmospheric icing conditions. It is employed for internal research, for collaboration with other research organizations, and to assist commercial clients with:

  • development, testing or calibration of aircraft or cloud physics instrumentation
  • development and testing of de- and anti-icing systems
  • evaluation of ice accretion on non-protected aircraft components
  • validation of numerical ice accretion codes
  • studies on basic physical processes leading to ice accretion

The tunnel's comparatively small test section, combined with its relatively high speed capabilities (up to Mach 0.5 with insert), make it particularly suitable and efficient for the testing of instrumentation and viewing of the microphysical processes of ice accretion. In addition, its ability to simulate flight at altitudes as high as 7 km make the AIWT a unique icing wind tunnel.

Technical Specifications

Normal working section:

  • size: 57 cm (22.5 in) high x 57 cm (22.5 in) wide x 183 cm (6 ft) long
  • air velocity: 5 to 100 m/s (18 to 360 km/h; 11 to 224 mph; 10 to 194 kt)

Reduced working section (with insert):

  • size: 30 cm (12 in) high x 57 cm (22.5 in) wide x 60 cm (2 ft) long
  • air velocity: 10 to 165 m/s (36 to 594 km/h; 22 to 369 mph; 20 to 320 kt)

Environmental conditions:

  • static air temperature (at max. velocity): -35°C to +40°C (-31°F to 104°F)
  • liquid water content (at max. velocity): 0.1 to 3.0 g/m3 (0.1 to 1.8 g/m3 with insert)
  • droplet median volume diameter: 8 to 120 micrometers
  • altitude simulation: ground to 7 km (ground to 23,000 ft)

Services available for tests:

  • AC power:
    • 105 to 125 V, 1 Phase, 400 Hz; 1000 VA (Unitron)
    • 575 V, 3 Phase, 60 Hz; 30 A
    • 220 V, 1 Phase, 60 Hz; 20 A
    • 110 V, 1 Phase, 60 Hz; 20 A
  • DC power:
    • 15 to 36 V; 100 A (Christie)
    • 0 to 40 V; 30 A (Hewlett Packard)
    • 28 V; 8 A (Sorensen)
  • Compressed air: 550 kPa (80 psig)
  • Steam: 340 kPa (50 psig) and 690 kPa (100 psig)
  • Data acquisition inputs:
    • up to 16 TTL-level digital signals (UPC 607)
    • up to 16 differential or 32 single-ended signals (thermocouples, thermistors, strain gauges, LVDT's, RTD's, resistances, variable reluctance, voltages) (UPC 607)
    • up to 4 frequency signals (UPC 607)
  • Data acquisition outputs:
    • up to 16 TTL-level digital signals (UPC 607)
    • up to 4 12 bit resolution ±10 VDC or 4-20 mA analog signals (UPC 607)
    • real-time CRT monitoring of environmental and test parameters at 1 Hz
    • storage of data on a hard disk for later processing
    • transfer of data to industry-standard 1.2 or 1.44 MB floppy disks
    • transfer of data to industry-standard CD-ROM disks
    • hard-copy print-out of data
  • Data rates: current data acquisition can occur at 100 Hz or slower
  • Video: recording available in VHS or S-VHS format