| Eight-Foot High Speed Tunnel | |
|---|---|
| (U.S. National Historic Landmark) | |
.jpg/235px-Eight_Foot_Wind_Tunnel_(NASA_Langley).jpg) |
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| Location: | Hampton, Virginia |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1936 |
| Designated as NHL: | October 3, 1985[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | October 3, 1985[2] |
| NRHP Reference#: | 85002798 |
The Eight-Foot High Speed Tunnel, also known as Eight-Foot Transonic Tunnel, is a wind tunnel at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the Hampton is an Independent city in Virginia, and therefore not part of any Virginia county A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP is the United States government's official list of districts sites buildings structures and objects deemed worthy of Events 42 BC - First Battle of Philippi: Triumvirs Mark Antony and Octavian fight an indecisive battle with Caesar's Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) A wind tunnel is a research tool developed to assist with studying the effects of air moving over or around solid objects The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program Langley Research Center (LaRC is the oldest of NASA 's field centers located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. Hampton is an Independent city in Virginia, and therefore not part of any Virginia county It is a National Historic Landmark. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the
The tunnel was completed in 1936 at a cost of $36,266,000. Year 1936 ( MCMXXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Because of its high speed and Bernoulli's principle, the pressure in the test section is much lower than that in the rest of the tunnel. In Fluid dynamics, Bernoulli's principle states that for an Inviscid flow, an increase in the speed of the fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease in This required a structure that could withstand an inward force due to the pressure difference. Instead of steel construction, it was built from reinforced concrete with walls up to 1 ft (0. Reinforced concrete is Concrete in which reinforcement bars (" Rebars quot or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen a material that would otherwise be 3 m) thick. This resulted in an "igloo-like" structure at the test section. An igloo ( Inuit language: iglu, Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᒡᓗ "house" plural iglooit or igluit, but in English The wind tunnel was designed as a single-return tunnel capable of moving air at speeds up to a Mach number up to 0. Mach number (\mathrm{Ma} or M (generally ˈmɑːk sometimes /ˈmɑːx/ or /ˈmæk/ is the speed of an object moving through air or any Fluid 75. It was powered by an 8,000 hp electric motor. It was repowered to 16,000 hp to give Mach number 1 capability in 1945. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar In 1947, the speed was increased to a Mach number of 1. Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 2 with the installation of a contoured nozzle. In 1950, a slotted-throat test section was installed, and it was repowered to 25,000 hp. Year 1950 ( MCML) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
Because it was the first continuous-flow high-speed tunnel, this tunnel was a landmark in wind tunnel design. This meant it could operate almost indefinitely to produce a high-speed airstream approaching the speed of sound. Sound is a vibration that travels through an elastic medium as a Wave. And it was large enough to accommodate large-scale models and even full-scale aircraft sections.
In 1950, the tunnel was the first in the world to be modified to incorporate a slotted throat design. This revolutionary design gave researchers their first accurate data on airframe performance in the transonic range. Transonic is an Aeronautics term referring to a range of velocities just below and above the Speed of sound (about mach 0 The tunnel was deactivated in 1956, when a new 8-foot tunnel was built near it. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
The wind tunnel was used for critical tests that validated the area rule for the design of supersonic aircraft. The Whitcomb area rule, also called the transonic area rule, is a design technique used to reduce an Aircraft 's drag at Transonic and Supersonic In Aviation, a supersonic aircraft is one that is designed to exceed the speed of sound in at least some of its normal flight configurations This said that the fuselage of the aircraft should narrow at the wings and expand at their trailing edges. This resulted in "wasp-waisted" aircraft.
The tunnel was deactivated in 1956. Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. [3][4]
It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1985. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the [1][4]
There are additional photographs of the wind tunnel in the Historic American Engineering Record collection. The Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS Historic American Engineering Record (HAER and Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS are programs of the [5]
References
- ^ a b Eight-Foot High Speed Tunnel. National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved on 2008-04-10. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 393 - Roman Emperor Theodosius I proclaims his nine year old son Honorius co-emperor
- ^ NASA Langley's National Historic Landmarks
- ^ a b Harry A. Butowsky (May 15, 1984), National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Eight-Foot High Speed Tunnel / Eight-Foot Transonic TunnelPDF (32 KB), National Park Service and Accompanying two photos, exterior, from 1981 and 1984PDF (32 KB)
- ^ HAER photographs of the wind tunnel.
External links
- NASA Langley Research Center, 8-Foot High Speed Wind Tunnel, 641 Thornell Avenue, Hampton, VA: 22 photos, 1 drawing, 30 data pages, and NASA Langley Research Center, 8-Foot Transonic Pressure Tunnel, 640 Thornell Avenue, Hampton, VA: 9 additional photos, at Historic American Engineering Record
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