Wind tunnels

Centrale Nantes is equipped with two wind tunnels which are used to undertake research on the dynamics of the urban and coastal atmosphere.

Atmospheric wind tunnel:



Experiments relating to quality of life issues, such as comfort, air quality and climatology or local meteorology, are carried out in the atmospheric wind tunnel. Models of neighbourhoods can, for example, be installed in the tunnel to test airflows in cities. The results obtained contribute to the decisions that are being made for sustainable urban development in the context of both climate change and the development of coastal and continental cities.

The tunnel is 26m long with a 2m x 2m cross-section and achieves flow speeds of 10m/s. In addition to the instruments for measuring the reference parameters of the experiments (reference speed, flow temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure), this installation is also equipped with various measurement devices including Spectral Particle Image Velocimetry (SPIV). Its fan allows flow speeds of up to 10m/s.

Its characteristics make it an exceptional facility for the study of atmospheric boundary layer flows and their interactions with urban or forest canopies at the scale of 1/200 approximately.

This equipment has been used for several research projects since its inception in 2009, for example:

• EM2PAU (2008-2012: Flow in street canyons
• VEGDUD (2010-2014: Dynamic interactions between forest canopy and the atmosphere
• TIPEE (2013-2016): Evaluation of pressure coefficients on a building in a rehabilitated area
• URBANTURB (2015-2018): Dynamic coupling between the urban canopy and the atmospheric surface layer

Aerodynamic wind tunnel:


The aerodynamic wind tunnel participates in innovations in the field of Marine Renewable Energies. This closed-circuit wind tunnel is dedicated to the development of "intelligent" wind turbine blades.

The tunnel is 2.8m long with a 0.5m x 0.5m cross-section and achieves flow speeds of 40m/s. It is complemented by real-time acquisition systems.

Its small dimensions make it an ideal test medium for the development of sensors for aerodynamic surface control.
Published on March 20, 2017 Updated on March 9, 2023