TsAGI - Test Facilities - T-103 Wind Tunnel

Мain technical parameters
Flow velocity	10–80 m/s
Reynolds number per 1 m	up to 5.5*10⁶
Total pressure	atmospheric
Dynamic pressure	up to 4.0 kPa
Stagnation temperature	environmental
Angle of attack (α)	-16°-54°
Side slip angle(β)	±24°
Test section dimensions:
Cross section area (elliptical)	4.0 х 2.33 m
Test section length	3.8 m
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General description

T-103 is a continuous-operation, closed-layout wind tunnel with onereverse channel and an open test section designed to investigate aerodynamic characteristics of aircraft models at take-off, landing and low-speed flight. Air flow is generated by a fan driven by electric engine of constant current with total power of 4400 kW.

The main types of tests are performed with the use of an electricmechanical balance mounted on a special platform. Different physicalinvestigations are carried out in addition to weight tests.

Computerized measurement-and-control complex enables monitoring, data acquisition and processing during the experiment. Models with wing area up to 0.8 m2, wing span up to 2.5 m, and length up to 2.5 m are tested in the wind tunnel.

Capabilities

The following types of tests can be carried out in T-103:

aerodynamic characteristics measurements, including simulation of ground effect and engine operation, with the use of the sixcomponent electric-mechanical balance;
strain-gauge measurement of aerodynamic loads on control surfaces carried out separately or simultaneously with the balance measurements of full model;
measurement of model?s surface throughout electric modules;
investigations of the velocity field near the model;
different means of visualization of the flow on the model surfaceand near it;
investigations of static and dynamic aeroelasticity using special models;
investigations of the trajectory of the dynamically-similar model separation;
measurements of aerodynamic damping coefficients on a special test bench for rotation derivative measurements;
testing the models with cool-compressed-air simulation of turbo jets;
investigations of flow in air inlet channels.

Application

During 70 years the above mentioned capabilities of T-103 have been used for experimental investigations of flight vehicles of different purposes. T-103 wind tunnel plays a unique role when developing prototype layouts of domestic aircraft and their further improvement.