The Ludwieg Tube Wind Tunnel, Göttingen (RWG) is the world's first intermittently operating large-scale aerodynamic research facility that functions according to Ludwieg's tube wind tunnel principle. This wind tunnel was designed by the inventor Professor Ludwieg at the Aerodynamic Research Institute in Göttingen (AVA) and has been running successfully since 1968. The RWG has two 80-metre-long storage tubes and six supersonic nozzles designed for different Mach numbers/ranges. With a test section size of 0.55 metres and measuring times of up to 400 milliseconds, the RWG is Europe's largest and most powerful research facility of its kind.
Supersonic and hypersonic research facility
The RWG of the DLR Institute of Aerodynamics and Flow Technology offers a wide range of possibilities for both fundamental research and project-related investigations at air speeds of between Mach 2 and Mach 7 in the broad Reynolds number range corresponding to supersonic/hypersonic flight at an altitude of 10,000 to 50,000 metres.
Due to its wide Mach and Reynolds number range, the Ludwieg tube wind tunnel is used for investigations into complex flow phenomena in supersonic and hypersonic flows and for the validation of numerical methods. Detailed flow investigations play a particularly important role, including laminar-turbulent transition and shock-boundary layer interaction in supersonic and hypersonic inflows. Studies are also carried out on control procedures in supersonic and hypersonic flight, the aerothermodynamics of re-entry and high-speed bodies, as well as on performance enhancement and drag reduction through flow control.
Contact
Volker Speelmann
Head of Research Infrastructures
German Aerospace Center (DLR)
Executive Board department for Innovation, Transfer and Research Infrastructure
