IMPLEMENTATION OF A SUPERSONIC WIND TUNNEL FOR AN
INSTRUCTIONAL UNDERGRADUATE AERODYNAMICS LABORATORY
Benjamin M. Arthur ⋅ James C. McDaniel (Advisor) ⋅ University of Virginia
Abstract
The primary objective of this project has been
to instrument a supersonic wind tunnel for a
new instructional undergraduate aerodynamics
laboratory that will complement an advanced
fluid mechanics course in UVa’s Department
of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
(MAE). Instrumentation includes an
automated pressure scanning system and a
shadowgraph imaging system for visualizing
shock and expansion waves. Thus, the newly
outfitted wind tunnel can be used to study
characteristics of supersonic flow, giving
students a chance to reinforce what they are
learning in the classroom and demonstrating
tools they can apply later in their careers, as
illustrated in Figure 1. With its emphasis on
education, the project aligns with the goals of
the Supersonics Project under the
Fundamental Aeronautics Program of
NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission
Directorate, which places an emphasis on
experimentation to understand the underlying
phenomena of supersonic flow.
Figure 1. Approach. The instructional aerodynamics
laboratory will complement an advanced fluid
mechanics course.
Motivation
Instructional laboratories, where students
can apply and reinforce what they learn in the
classroom, are generally considered to be an
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essential part of undergraduate engineering
education.2 Accordingly, UVa’s MAE
Department has directed funding to enhance
its undergraduate lab facilities, including a
supersonic wind tunnel at the University’s
Aerospace Research Laboratory. Formerly
used for an undergraduate aerodynamics
laboratory, the wind tunnel was damaged by
water several years ago when an underground
pipe burst during a routine test. The wind
tunnel has recently been refurbished, with the
aim of reintroducing the aerodynamics
laboratory into the third-year aerospace
engineering curriculum as a complement to an
advanced fluid mechanics course. Outfitting
the wind tunnel with new instrumentation
adds the unique capability for students in the
course to study characteristics of supersonic
flow using hands-on techniques.
Background
A typical supersonic wind tunnel includes
a convergent-divergent nozzle, constant-area
test section and convergent-divergent diffuser,
as shown in Figure 2. The nozzle feeds a
uniform supersonic flow into the test section,
and the flow is subsequently slowed to a low
subsonic speed by the diffuser. The minimum
area of the nozzle, where the flow is sonic
(i.e., the Mach number M* = 1), is called the
throat, and it can be shown that the Mach
number M at any location in the nozzle or test
section is a function of the ratio of the local
duct area A to the sonic throat area A*, as
given by the area-Mach number relation:1
M = f ( A A∗ ) (1)
A supersonic wind tunnel is said to be
unstarted when a normal shock wave stands
inside the nozzle and the flow through the test
section and diffuser is totally subsonic. As the
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pressure supplied to the tunnel—from a high-
pressure reservoir at the inlet to the nozzle—is
increased, the shock wave moves downstream.
Once the shock wave has moved through the
test section and the flow is fully supersonic,
the wind tunnel is said to be started.
Figure 2. Sketch of a Supersonic Wind Tunnel. A
typical supersonic wind tunnel includes a nozzle, test
section and diffuser.1
The supersonic wind tunnel used for the
aerodynamics laboratory, pictured in Figure 3,
is designed such that the nozzle throat area
can be adjusted, while keeping the nozzle exit
area constant, to produce a range of Mach
numbers in the test section from about M = 1.4
to M = 3.1. Accordingly, the wind tunnel can
be calibrated for the entire range of test
section Mach numbers.
Figure 3. Supersonic Wind Tunnel. The supersonic
wind tunnel used for the aerodynamics laboratory is
designed to produce a range of Mach numbers in the
test section from about M = 1.4 to M = 3.1.
The test section Mach number Mtest section is
a function of the nozzle exit pressure pexit and
total pressure p0 in the reservoir. (Alternately,
pexit is the pressure in the test section and p0 is
the nozzle inlet pressure.) Given the pressure
ratio pexit ⁄ p0, the value of Mtest section for each
position of the nozzle and the corresponding
area ratio Atest section ⁄ A* can be found from the
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isentropic flow properties table. Since the test
section area Atest section is known (9 in2), the
nozzle throat area A* can be calculated for
each value of Mtest section using the area-Mach
number relation:
M test section = f ( Atest section A∗ ) (2)
The calibration curves are plotted in Chart 1.
The throat height at each position is calculated
from the value of A* since the width of the
nozzle, which has a rectangular cross section,
is constant (3 in).
Chart 1. Calibration. The wind tunnel can be calibrated
for the entire range of test section Mach numbers using
the area-Mach number relation.
Instrumentation
Automated Pressure Scanning System
The automated pressure scanning system
is central to the operation of the wind tunnel,
as it is used to gauge the starting process of
the nozzle, monitor the test section Mach
number and measure the pressure distribution
of the high-speed flow. As illustrated in
Figure 4, 28 pressure taps along the centerline
of the nozzle and test section, in addition to
one on the reservoir for measuring total
pressure, connect to a single absolute pressure
transducer through a Scanivalve solenoid
controller (not shown in Figure 4). The
pressure transducer outputs a calibrated
voltage signal to an analog input module
(voltmeter), and a digital output module
(electromechanical relay) controls the
scanning process, which is automated in
LabVIEW.
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 Figure 4. Schematic of the Automated Pressure
Scanning System. The automated pressure scanning
system is used to gauge the starting process of the
nozzle, monitor the test section Mach number and
measure the pressure distribution of the high-speed
flow.
Figure 5 shows a screenshot of the
LabVIEW user interface of the pressure
scanning system. The SCAN button initiates
the automated scanning process and triggers
the computer’s data acquisition system to
begin saving data. Pressing the SCAN button
during a scan also pauses the process. By
contrast, the STOP button terminates the
scanning process and resets the solenoid
controller to tap 0, which is connected to the
reservoir. The STEP and HOME buttons allow
the user to manually operate the solenoid
controller: The STEP button advances the
solenoid controller to the next pressure tap,
and the HOME button returns the solenoid
controller to tap 0. As long as the program is
running, the current tap location is displayed
by the Tap indicator, and the pressure reading
from the transducer is displayed by the PSIA
indicator.
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Figure 5. LabVIEW User Interface. The pressure
scanning system is automated in LabVIEW.
Shadowgraph Imaging System
A shadowgraph is a special optical
technique for visualizing shock and expansion
waves based on index of refraction gradients,
which arise primarily from density gradients
in the supersonic flow.3 As a beam of parallel
light rays (i.e., collimated light), expanded
from a single laser light source, passes
through the test section, the individual rays are
refracted due to density changes in the air.3
Thus, shock and expansion waves can be
clearly visualized since they have large
density gradients.
The shadowgraph image is captured on a
sheet of ground glass mounted outside the test
section and can be photographed for closer
examination. The image in Figure 6, for
example, shows two oblique shock waves that
were generated as the flow was compressed by
the first corner, as well as faint expansion
waves that were generated as the flow was
expanded around the second corner. In
general, an oblique shock wave occurs
whenever a supersonic flow is turned into
itself (e.g., by a concave corner); conversely,
an expansion wave, or expansion fan, occurs
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whenever a supersonic flow is turned away
from itself (e.g., by a convex corner).1 The
angles of these waves, in turn, can be
measured on the shadowgraph image to verify
the test section Mach number.
Flow direction

Shock waves
Expansion waves
Figure 6. Shadowgraph Image. Shock and expansion
waves can be visualized using a special optical
technique called a shadowgraph.
Future Work
Due to time constraints, setup of the
shadowgraph imaging system is not complete.
Once finished, however, two simple
experiments—one that makes use of the
shadowgraph system and another that requires
separate instrumentation—can be set up in the
wind tunnel.
First, a diamond-shaped airfoil mounted in
the test section, as pictured in Figure 7, can be
used to study shock and expansion waves.
Two oblique shocks will be generated at the
leading edge of the airfoil, and at the point of
maximum thickness, expansion fans will turn
the flow parallel to the surface of the model.
As the angle of attack of the airfoil is varied to
change the wave angle, shadowgraph imaging
can be used to measure each wave angle for
comparison to the value calculated using
compressible flow theory, giving students in
the aerodynamics laboratory a chance to
validate what they are learning in the
advanced fluid mechanics course.
Figure 7. Diamond-Shaped Airfoil. A diamond-shaped
airfoil mounted in the test section can be used to study
shock and expansion waves.
Additionally, a pair of swept-ramp fuel
injectors, modeled after those used in scramjet
combustors, can be mounted in the test
section, as shown in Figure 8, to study the
fuel-air mixing properties of the supersonic
flow. As carbon dioxide (CO2) is injected into
the flow from the base of the fuel injectors, a
planar laser sheet can be used to illuminate
small droplets of the condensed CO2 so that
the fuel plume is visible. A video camera
mounted on a translation stage can then be
used to capture cross-sectional images of the
flow at several locations downstream of the
fuel injectors, and the resulting cross-flow
images can be analyzed to show how the CO2
interacts with supersonic air.
Figure 8. Swept-Ramp Fuel Injector. A pair of swept-
ramp fuel injectors can be mounted in the test section to
study the fuel-air mixing properties of the supersonic
flow.

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 Acknowledgements
This project was supported by the Virginia
Space Grant Consortium. Special thanks, also,
to James McDaniel, Lewis Steva, Roger
Reynolds, Robert Rockwell, Dominic Barone,
Kristin Busa and Thomas Steva.

References
[1] Anderson, J. D. (2011). Fundamentals of
aerodynamics (5th ed.). New York, NY:
McGraw-Hill.
[2] Feisel, L. D., & Rosa, A. J. (2005). The
role of the laboratory in undergraduate
engineering education. Journal of
Engineering Education, 94(1), 121-130.
[3] McDaniel, J., & Nickol, C. (1994).
Supersonic wind tunnel laboratory [Lab
manual]. Charlottesville, VA: University
of Virginia.

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