TTU brings wind tunnel to old TAP building

Heather Mullinix, Crossville Chronicle, Tenn.
·2 min read

Dec. 8—A wind tunnel that will be the centerpiece of a new Tennessee Technological University research center began arriving in Crossville last week.

"It will take six or seven deliveries to get it all here from Roosevelt, MN," said Dan Warren, project manager for the wind tunnel project.

TTU announced plans for the new facility last summer. TTU President Phil Oldham said at the time, "The tunnel and facilities will increase our ability and capacity in performance computing and will also enhance teaching."

Warren said the wind tunnel was originally built in 1992 and operated in San Diego, CA. Researchers and industry clients would lease time in the wind tunnel to test products as part of research and development.

It was purchased via an online auction about 10 years ago and moved to Minnesota, but it was never reassembled.

The 140-foot wind tunnel will need to be redesigned for the space and assembled at the former TAP Publishing building in downtown Crossville. Warren estimated it could be one to three years before that is complete.

The 500-horsepower fan and 10-foot-by-10-foot-by-23-foot test section is more than double the size of the university's current fluid mechanics research laboratory located on the main campus in Cookeville. Wind speeds will be able to reach 140 miles per hour.

The new facility will allow researchers to work with prototypes to test their designs without the limitations of small wind tunnels, which often require scaling down testing models.

The purchase also places TTU among a small number of institutions in the country with such testing facilities.

The research facility will be part of the TTU College of Engineering's mechanical engineering department. It will also complement the university's aerospace concentration and be integrated with the curriculum.

The Crossville facility is also tapped to house a supercomputer to support additional research efforts by the university.

The state of Tennessee provided $3.5 million in recurring funds for purchase of the new wind tunnel and supercomputer facility in Crossville.

Heather Mullinix is editor of the Crossville Chronicle. She covers schools and education in Cumberland County. She may be reached at hmullinix@crossville-chronicle.com.