Standard wind tunnel models

Standard models are used in order to verify, by comparison of wind tunnel test results with previously published results, the complete measurement chain in a wind tunnel, including wind tunnel structure, quality of the airstream, model positioning, transducers and force balances, data acquisition system and data reduction software.

[2][3] More specifically, standard wind tunnel models are used for: Besides, results from wind tunnel tests of standard models are used as test cases for verification of computational-fluid-dynamics (CFD) computer codes.

[5] However, some laboratories have adopted the practice of periodical testing of a standard model every couple of years in order to provide a continued confidence in the reliability of measurements in their wind tunnels .

Results of wind tunnel tests of these models are generally published in the form of nondimensional aerodynamic coefficients (thus being made independent of model size) and made available to the wind-tunnel community, often in review reports containing inter-facility comparisons of data,[5][8][9][10] discussing observed scatter of results, different testing conditions, production differences between models etc.

Some wind tunnel laboratories perform periodical checkouts using internally defined standard models that are selected from the repository of models previously tested in the facility[16] Geometry of a standard wind tunnel model is defined relative to some easily identified parameter (see figure), e.g. body diameter or wing chord.