An upgrade for Athens’ wind tunnel testing

There is a way to test how an object will move through the air or how the wind will interact with the object, without even leaving the laboratory. Researchers use huge tubes with air blowing through them. Such wind tunnels can test scale models of aircraft, wind turbines and even buildings. In this context, the EU-funded TWEET-IE project will upgrade the wind tunnel testing activities of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). The proposed upgrade will render the NTUA on par with other world-class facilities for hosting a variety of research applications in the field of external aerodynamics. The primary focus will be on clean-tech, energy and transport applications.

Objective

TWEET-IE aims to upgrade the Wind Tunnel (WT) testing activities of the widening member National Technical University of Athens (NTUA). The NTUA WT will be rendered on par with other world class facilities for hosting a variety of research applications in the field of external aerodynamics, primarily focusing on clean-tech, energy and transport applications. TWEET-IE is conceptually based on three distinct pillars i) enhancing administration and management capacity, ii) upgrading technical competence and iii) improving visibility and profile of the facility. It includes knowledge transfer and networking activities with 4 leading European universities, which have all been successfully operating their own large WTs for decades and have remarkable scientific and research track records.
Renewable energy sources, clean-tech and energy efficiency in the urban environment will be the cornerstones for accomplishing EU’s energy and climate ambition to render Europe the first energy neutral continent by 2050 and WT experiments are indispensible for analyzing issues related to wind energy and environmental flows. This is one reason that upgrading the in-house WT has been prioritized as a research goal of paramount importance for both the School of Mechanical Engineering, NTUA and the labs involved in the WT management and operations.
TWEET-IE’s primary goals will be achieved through systematic work and seamless communication between project working groups, comprising key personnel from all partners, and a series of networking, training and research activities and events, in which all leading members of the consortium play an equally important role.
TWEET-IE’s strategic research goal is to address the challenge of measurement conformity among different WT. Four identical state-of-the-art test campaigns will be repeated in different tunnels, serving the strategic goal, the improvement of NTUA’s technical capacity and also stimulating research innovation and excellence per se.n

More info: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101079125 ↗