Modernizing A Legacy Wind Tunnel: Hanging Onto And Letting Go Of The Past

A medium-scale, closed-circuit subsonic wind tunnel facility used for undergraduate aerospace engineering laboratory experimentation and research represents a substantial investment in resources. The control systems and data acquisition systems must evolve so that the age of the facility does not prejudice researchers serious about their academic endeavors. The evolution of such a system is detailed, including plant development, improvement and modernization of its systems, and data acquisition and control systems (DACS) programming. Individual student research projects that contributed to the continued evolution of the facility are described, and the usefulness of maintaining such a facility as a training tool in dealing with legacy systems is discussed. Through five distinct iterations of programming environments and hardware exchanges, some integral components have remained untouched through years of refinement, due to their robust initial design and continued reliable service. Recognition of system limitations and capabilities is essential to successful upgrade of systems such as these. The implementation of a user-friendly interface for control of the wind tunnel and selection of various data acquisition options is detailed, and the development of the current LabVIEW program is discussed. The importance of being able to re-equip and reprogram DACS instrumentation and presentation is presented as being essential in maintaining a positive image of the research laboratory. The early tunnel Research facilities and undergraduate teaching laboratories are a necessary part of any aerospace engineering programs physical infrastructure. Academic faculty members are encouraged to continue research in their primary interest areas, and indeed such research is a requirement for those at research institutions. Large-scale laboratory systems such as wind tunnels are not simply static facilities. A medium-scale, closed-circuit subsonic wind tunnel facility used for undergraduate aerospace engineering laboratory experimentation and research represents a substantial investment in resources. The laboratory building housing a wind tunnel is often constructed around such a facility, and support facilities are sized and located accordingly. The facility housed in Patterson Hall at Mississippi State University (MSU) was moved into the building upon completion of construction in the 1960s. Wood and machine shop facilities were located adjacent to the tunnel to provide research and educational support. The tunnel has an octagonal cross section throughout its closed loop wooden structure, except for the plane of the propeller, where it is tapered to be circular. The four-bladed, variable pitch propeller is