Wind Tunnel Bulletin #01
<p>What is a wind tunnel? We assume it is Aeolus, our ancestor: when he caged all winds to leave only one, it produced wind-tunnel-like conditions at a large scale (pp. 2–3, 20). However we learn from the Handbook of Wind Energy (pp. 4–5) that this condition is wholly artificial because wind is always highly variable and omnidirectional—whirling on every scale. Looking at our own wind tunnel in Zürich we realized parallels to Göttingen and Ludwig Prandtl, who invented and built the first closed circuit tunnel there in 1908. It is still known today as the Göttingentype (pp. 6–7). We have dubbed the housing of the wind tunnel the “Temple of Winds.” Some early design drawings of Kaspar König show his idea of the modular tunnel, which may be the first in the world of its kind (pp. 8–11). Wind tunnels come in all shapes and sizes with the common task of “straightening” the wind to study effects on scalar models (pp. 12–13). When printing this issue, we are still in the making of our tunnel (pp. 16–19). Finally we ask: Why a wind tunnel (pp. 18–19)?</p>
Editors: Haseeb Ahmed, Florian Dombois, Kaspar König
Contributors: Haseeb Ahmed, Florian Dombois, Kaspar König, Mirjam Steiner, Sarine Waltenspül, Reinhard Wendler
Designer: Viola Zimmermann, Corinne Dörig
Part of: Wind Tunnel Bulletin
ISBN: 9783952426005