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Published September 29, 2004 | Published
Book Section - Chapter Open

Wind tunnel testing of a generic telescope enclosure

Abstract

The design of future large optical telescopes must take into account the wind-induced buffeting of the telescope structure caused by large-scale flow structures and turbulence inside the dome. However, estimating the resulting degradation in image quality is difficult due to our relatively poor understanding of the flow inside the dome. Data has been collected in a scaled wind-tunnel test of a telescope enclosure to understand the flow-field around the region near the dome opening where the secondary mirror and supporting structure would be subjected to wind loads. Digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) data was collected in a vertical plane near the dome opening to obtain mean velocity and fluctuation kinetic energy. In addition, hotwire data was collected along the telescope axis to obtain temporal spectra of the velocity, and flow visualization was used to determine the general flow patterns. In addition to its direct use in telescope modeling and design, this data is of particular value in validation of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analyses, so that CFD can be used with confidence in future design work.

Additional Information

© 2004 Society of Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). The Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) Project is a partnership of the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), the Association of Canadian Universities for Research in Astronomy (ACURA), the California Institute of Technology and the University of California. The partners gratefully acknowledge the support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the US National Science Foundation, the National Research Council of Canada, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Gemini Partnership. Mory Gharib (Caltech) provided substantial guidance and technical expertise in the design of this experiment and the application of the DPIV technique. The Lucas AWT staff (Christopher Krok and Jerry Landry) supplied technical assistance in the areas of model construction, flow visualization, troubleshooting and test documentation. Joeleff Fitzsimmions (HIA) and Konstantinos Vogiatzis (AURA NIO) also provided troubleshooting assistance and consulted on the selection of test conditions.

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August 19, 2023
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