Research Facilities > Tunnel facilities
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garfield thomas water tunnel (GTWT) facilities
List of Facilities:
- Garfield Thomas Water Tunnel (48-inch diameter)
- Water Tunnel (12-inch diameter)
- Water Tunnel (6-inch diameter)
- Ultra-High Speed Cavitation Tunnel (1.5-inch diameter)
- Subsonic Wind Tunnel
- Cascade Facility
- Boundary Layer Research Facility
| Description | Closed Circuit, Closed Jet |
| Drive System | 4-Blade Adjustable Pitch Impeller |
| Motor Power | 2,000-hp Variable Speed (1,491 kW) |
| Working Section Maximum Velocity | 18.29 m/s |
| Maximum and Minimum Absolute Pressures | 413.7 to 20.7 kPa |
| Cavitation Number Range | >0.1 dependent on velocity and/or J-range |
| Instrumentation | Propeller dynamometers, 5-hole probes, pitot probes, lasers, pressure sensors, hydrophones, planar motion mechanism, force balances, accelerometers, acoustics arrays |
| Torque and Thrust Dynamometers | Model internally mounted, 150-hp limit (111.85 kW) |
| Propeller or Model Size Range | Model size from 76.2-mm to 635.0-mm inner diameter |
| Tests Performed | Forces, flowfield, and pressure distributions on bodies of revolution, hydrofoils, propeller, etc.; cavitation performance and noise measurements of propellers, foils, hydrodynamic shapes, etc.; steady state and time-dependent force and torque measurements on powered models; flow visualization, body acceleration levels, shaft/body unsteady forces, and radiated noise |
| Other Remarks | The tunnel turbulence level is 0.1 percent in test section. Air content can be controlled as low as 1 ppm per mole. Measurement can be made of hydrodynamic functions for stability and control of submerged vehicles. A directional hydrophone system is used for relative acoustic measurements. |
| Published Description | Lehman, ARL Penn State Report No. NORD 16597-56, Fluid Dynamics Department, Applied Research Laboratory, The Pennsylvania State University, 1959. Marboe, R. C., et. al., "Hydroacoustic Research capabilities in the Large Water Tunnel at ARL-Penn State," Proceedings of Symposium on Flow Noise Modeling, Measurement, and Control, NCA-VOL 15/FED-VOL 168, pp. 125-135, ASME Winter Annual Meeting, 28 Nov-3 Dec., 1993. |
| Description | Closed Circuit, Closed Jet |
| Test Sections |
|
| Drive System | Mixed Flow Peerless Pump |
| Motor Power | 150 hp (111.8 kW) |
| Working Section Maximum Velocity | 24.38 m/s |
| Maximum and Minimum Absolute Pressures | 413.7 to 20.7 kPa |
| Cavitation Number Range | >0.1 dependent on velocity |
| Instrumentation | Lasers, pressure sensors, hydrophones |
| Model Size Range< | 50.8-mm maximum diameter |
| Tests Performed | Steady state and time-dependent force and pressure measurements on unpowered models; noise measurements on cavitating models; three-dimensional flow problems (circular section); two-dimensional flow problems (rectangular section); axial-flow pump tests |
| Other Remarks | Independent gas control of air content; water filtration with 25-micrometer filters; intermittent operation with drag-reducing additive injection; partial neutralization of additive downstream of test section |
| Published Description | Lehman, ARL Penn State Report No. NORD 16597-56, 1959. |
| Description | Closed Circuit, Closed Jet |
| Drive System | Axial-Flow Pump |
| Motor Power | 25 hp (18.64 kW) |
| Working Section Maximum Velocity | 21.34 m/s |
| Maximum and Minimum Absolute Pressures | 861.9 to 20.7 kPa |
| Cavitation Number Range | >0.1 dependent on velocity and pressure |
| Instrumentation | Pressure transducers, lasers |
| Temperature | Ambient |
| Tests Performed | Effect of polymers on axial-flow pumps; surface roughness effects on cavitation; probe calibration |
| Other Remarks | Air content by vacuum pump; water filtered through 25-micron filters as tunnel is filled |
| Published Description | Kaku, M.S. Thesis, ARL Penn State, 1962. |
1.5-INCH ULTRA-HIGH SPEED CAVITATION TUNNEL
| Description | Closed Circuit, Closed Jet |
| Drive System | Centrifugal Variable Speed Drive |
| Motor Power | 75 hp (55.9 kW) |
| Working Section Maximum Velocity | 83.8 m/s |
| Maximum and Minimum Absolute Pressures | 8,274.0 to 41.4 kPa |
| Cavitation Number Range | >0.01 dependent on tunnel velocity |
| Instrumentation | Pressure and temperature sensors, lasers. |
| Temperature | 16°C to +176°C |
| Model Size Range | 12.7-mm maximum diameter |
| Tests Performed | Incipient and dissonant cavitation studies; development cavitation studies; cavitation damage |
| Other Remarks | Stainless steel tunnel; bronze pump; three filter banks for removal of water, acids, solid particles (10 micrometers) depending on fluid media |
| Published Description | Weir, Billet, and Holl, ARL Penn State TM 75-188, 1975. |
| Description | Closed Circuit |
| Drive System | Axial-Flow Blower Variable-Speed |
| Motor Power | 150 hp (111.8 kW) |
| Working Section Maximum Velocity | 45.72 m/s |
| Instrumentation | Automatic scanning and rotating mechanisms, pressure sensors, hot wires, lasers, smoke generator |
| Tests Performed | Pressure distributions over hydrodynamic shapes; velocity profiles in propeller planes; hot-wire measurements; wall-interaction effects on hydrofoils; flow visualization |
| Other Remarks | The tunnel is subsonic and is used for basic and applied research. It is well instrumented for the measurement of model boundary layers and their wake turbulence. |
| Published Description | Lehman, ARL Penn State Report No. NORD 16597-56, 1959. |
| Description | Open Jet |
| Drive System | Joy Axial-Flow Fan |
| Motor Power | 20 hp (14.91 kW), 1,750 rpm |
| Working Section Maximum Velocity | 36.58 m/s |
| Test Section | 355.6 mm x 635.0 mm rectangular |
| Characteristics | Porous-wall side suction of boundary layer, stagger angle (0° to 60°), incidence (±10°), solidity up to three |
| Instrumentation | Lasers, hot wires, and pressure sensors |
| Tests Performed | Blade-surface pressure distributions; boundary-layer and wake-pressure surveys |
| Other Remarks | This facility is used for basic engineering research in turbomachinery blading. |
| Published Description | Gearhart and Ross, ARL Penn State TM 506.2491-26, 1968. |
BOUNDARY LAYER RESEARCH FACILITY (GLYCERIN)
| Description | 285-mm Constant Diameter Test Section, Closed Circuit |
| Drive System | Gould Centrifugal Pump |
| Motor Power | 100 hp (74.6 kW) |
| Working Section Maximum Velocity | 6.096 m/s >9 m/s |
| Maximum and Minimum Absolute Pressures | 586.0 to 101.4 kPa |
| Reynolds Number Range | 4,000-15,000 |
| Instrumentation | Multipoint, multi-component laser Doppler velocimetry, particle image velocimetry, hot film anemometry |
| Tests Performed | This facility models the turbulent flow of fluids next to a wall at a scale large enough to permit detailed flow measurement of the flow structure in the viscous sublayer. |
| Other Remarks | Specially designed for research in viscous sublayer; wide Reynolds-number range for turbulent boundary layer research; 20 micrometer filters and heat exchangers; internal surface of test section honed to a 0.41 rms micrometer finish |
| Published Description | Bakewell, Ph.D. Thesis, The Pennsylvania State University, 1966. Chevrin, Ph.D. Thesis, The Pennsylvania State University, 1988. |