Two of the wind tunnels located at the Research & Engineering Education Facility (REEF), designed by the faculty members and students, have both a configuration with open loop and open jet test section with fiberglass modular construction.

The open working section allows for greater accessibility for the placement of models, the use of diverse instrumentation systems and flow visualization.

The tunnels will be used for aerodynamic characterization of various models, for investigations on fluid-structure interaction problems, for fundamental and applied fluids research.

The instrumentation systems include two six-component stain gauge balances, laser scanner vibrometer (LSV), dynamic visual image correlation (VIC), hot wire anemometer, time resolved particle image correlation (PIV), various pressure sensors and A/D converters.

The primary characteristics are:
Square test section with dimensions 1.07 by 1.07 m
Length of test section 3.20 m
Installed power 50 HP
Speed range 0 – 25 m/s

The key operational requirements are:
Excellent controllability at low speeds
Flow turbulence ≈ 0.1% (at 10-20 m/s) or better
Flow uniformity and swirl better than ±1% in core flow