Experimental Investigations of Effects of Collector on Performances of Automotive Wind Tunnel

Effects of collector shape on the performance of an automotive wind tunnel are experimentally investigated in a 1:15 model wind tunnel. A few types of collectors, each with different collector shape, were tested. For each collector shape, pressure pulsation level, total sound pressure level, pressure distribution, maximum wind tunnel speed and pressure loss were measured. From these measured data, the effects of collector on the pressure loss, static pressure gradient at the test section, and on the performance of low frequency buffeting were deduced. Based on these data, a preferred collector is suggested.