R J Mitchell Wind Tunnel
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| R. J. Mitchell Wind Tunnel | |
|---|---|
 Entrance of the wind tunnel | |
 Interactive map of the R. J. Mitchell Wind Tunnel area | |
| Former names | Farnborough No. 1 Tunnel |
| General information | |
| Type | Educational |
| Location | Southampton, United Kingdom |
| Coordinates | 50°56′11″N 1°23′41″W / 50.936258°N 1.394589°W |
| Owner | University of Southampton |
The R. J. Mitchell Wind Tunnel is a low-speed wind tunnel which is part of the Faculty of Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton. It is the largest wind tunnel in University ownership in the UK.[citation needed] It is named after famed British aircraft designer R.J. Mitchell.
The tunnel was built in the 1930s as part of the Farnborough Royal Aircraft Establishment cluster of tunnels.[citation needed] The tunnel was purchased by the University of Southampton for a minimal fee in 1979 on the understanding that they would cover the cost of transport and recommissioning at its new site on the Highfield Campus.[citation needed] This purchase was in response to a business case put forward at the time which focused around the need for more capacity to cope with increasing motorsport demand.[citation needed] Previously the 7x5 wind tunnel had been heavily utilised by many F1 teams and a larger facility was deemed desirable to increase model scales. The tunnel was first run in Southampton in 1981[citation needed] and was formally opened by R. J. Mitchell’s son, Gordon Mitchell.
In the 1980s and 90s the tunnel was used extensively by Formula 1 teams as well as Team Penske who developed many Indy Cars in the facility.[citation needed] In the early 00s the tunnel was able to be utilised by University students and researchers as well as a variety of customers from various industries.
In 2013 the existing building was extended to provide a new entrance area to update the look of the building while providing new facilities for users as well as wheelchair access.[1] This extension was formally opened by Chris Boardman in January 2014.[2]
National Wind Tunnel Facility
In January 2014 the R. J. Mitchell Wind Tunnel became a ‘National Wind Tunnel Facility’[3] under a government initiative announced by minister for Science and Universities David Willetts. The initiative gave 17 facilities access to a total of £13.3 million with funding coming from both EPSRC and the UK Aerodynamic Centre.[4] The funding allocated to the tunnel was used to design and build a traverse system, install a combined chiller/heat pump into the circuit and also funded both a high resolution and high speed Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) systems.[citation needed]