Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute named after N.E. Zhukovsky (TsAGI) tested a gliding parachute in a full-scale wind tunnel. The goal of the experiment was to evaluate the flow around air intake’s upper edge, ARMS-TASS reports.

According to TsAGI’s press-service, the obtained results will allow the specialists to offer recommendations for improving the parachute’s aerodynamic performance. PIV-visualization method was used during testing. The principle of this method is as follows: a smoke stream is injected in the airflow and illuminated with laser; a camera takes photo of the particles at set time intervals. This method allows analyzing the nature of the airflow near the object (parachute).

Following the results of the tests, the scientists found out that there are stagnant wakes located near the parachute’s air intake. This fact induces the overall aerodynamic performance degradation.

This experiment is also interesting because today all the visualization techniques are focused on small rigid models and small wind tunnels. In this experiment a soft moving model located in a large wind tunnel was studied. This fact made the experiment far more complicated, senior engineer of TsAGI’s dynamics and aircraft control systems department, Alexander Sviridenko, said. According to him, the use of soft shells in aviation sector is a promising area of work. The results of tests carried out by TsAGI may be used for studying other objects in future.

Head of department of full-scale wind tunnels, Anatoly Soinov, in his own turn, added that the results obtained during these tests might be used for studying the airflow around rigid models.

This year the specialists of TsAGI will carry out another stage of testing aimed at obtaining the full range of the parachute’s aerodynamic characteristics. The experiments will be carried out using the world’s only test bed designed for testing guided gliding parachutes. The obtained results will be of interest for specialists in the field of aerodynamics and flight dynamics.