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This paper deals with the correction of aerodynamic interference effects taking place between the nozzle of an open jet wind tunnel and a test model. In order to deduce correct aerodynamic coefficients these interference effects have to be allowed for in the determination of the correct wind tunnel speed. In open jet wind tunnels basically two different methods are used to determine the tunnel speed. One is the so-called nozzle-method, utilizing the pressure difference down the nozzle to determine the nozzle exit velocity or tunnel speed. The other procedure is the so-called plenum-method, where the pressure difference between the settling chamber and the surrounding plenum chamber of the test section is measured and used. In this paper it is shown that both methods yield a systematic error, since the velocity distribution in the nozzle differs from the velocity distribution in an unbounded stream measured at the same distance from the model.

This paper deals with the correction for interference effects on the flow about bluff bodies in open-jet wind tunnels. Altogether, five different interference effects in open-jet tunnels are identified and described by physical models. Besides the classical jet-expansion correction which has been treated repeatedly by various authors throughout the last 60 years, the new correction method also includes the effect of jet deflection due to the proximity of a vehicle to the nozzle. Furthermore, far-field interference effects originating from the nozzle and the collector are described. For this purpose nozzle and collector effects are treated as solid- wall blockage phenomena, and with the aid of Biot-Savart principles the induced velocity at the model position is calculated. Finally, the static- pressure gradient in an empty test section generates a horizontal buoyancy force when a model is placed in a wind tunnel stream.