STARCS has been in operation since July 2008 when the consultant company Sjöland & Thyselius took over management of the wind tunnel services previously run by FOI (the Swedish Defence Research Establishment) and FFA (The Aeronautical Research Institute of Sweden).

 

STARCS is a young company with a strong heritage dating back to the establishment of FFA in 1940. At that time the new authority, FFA, belonged to the Ministry of Commerce and was responsible for research, development and testing activities in the field of aeronautics.

 

The purpose of these activities was to supply the needs of the Swedish Armed Forces (FM), the Defence Material Administration of Sweden (FMV) and the Swedish aviation authorities with aeronautical expertise, in the context of the acquisition, certification and maintenance of aviation material. Another function of FFA was to provide active support for the long-term development of a competitive Swedish industry.

 

The activities were supported by wind tunnels, a structure and materials laboratory, a Design office and Workshop and the National Laboratory for Pressure under the supervision of the Swedish Board for Accreditation and Conformity Assessment. More than 300 people were employed.

 

FFA was a separate authority until January 1, 2001 when it was merged with the much larger organization FOA to form the new organization, the Swedish Defense Research Institute (FOI). All these organizations belong to the Ministry of Defense.

 

In August 2007 FOI decided to dispose of its business in Bromma. During the autumn, the process of selling on the international market was under way. On 26 May 2008 a transfer agreement was signed between FOI and Sjöland & Thyselius Aerodynamic Research Center AB. The transfer took place on 1 July 2008.

 

LT1 is the first wind tunnel, built 1940 at the Bromma wind tunnel site. This low speed wind tunnel was operated until 2005 when FOI left a large part of the original site including LT1. STARCS has now returned the tunnel. The original six component Toledo balance is still operational.

 

The second tunnel at the Bromma site was the vertical spin tunnel. The flight area diameter was 4.0 m but the Reynolds number was low and the tunnel never became as successful as LT1.

 

Smaller low speed tunnels that have been operated over the years are LT2 for building aerodynamics simulation, LT3 for smoke visualization and LT4 for ice accretion studies. None of these exist today but the motor from LT2 now drives LT5. LT5 was built 1996 for the purpose of testing seeding for PIV.

 

The first high speed tunnel, HT, was built 1944. The speed range was originally up to high subsonic Mach numbers. 1960, with new drive motor, drier and test section with slotted walls surrounded by a plenum chamber the speed could be varied continuously up to Mach 1.15. The tunnel was closed 1991.

 

Three small supersonic tunnels of vacuum type S1, S2, S3 were built between 1946 and 1950. S1 was the first tunnel at FFA with slotted walls where a model could be tested at sonic speed (1950). A new vacuum storage was excavated in the rock under the test site and two new larger wind tunnels, S4 (1954) and S5 (1956), were connected to the rock chamber. Both S4 and S5 had transonic test sections with slotted walls and several nozzles for different supersonic Mach numbers. The small vacuum tunnels were subsequently connected to the rock chamber, A pipe also connects LT1 to the rock chamber thus making inlet tests with suction possible. The speed range of the FFA tunnels was now from low speed to Mach 4.0. All these tunnels were closed when FOI left the ground 2005.

 

The first hypersonic wind tunnel HYP200 was operational 1960 - 1986. The tunnel was driven with high pressure air that was heated before the run and evacuated into the rock chamber. The tunnel was closed 1986. The larger HYP500 is operational since 1965. The tunnel is driven from a 25 Mpa air storage.

 

A trisonic wind tunnel TVM500 (operational since 1965) is connected to the same high pressure air storage as HYP500. Both tunnels evacuate to the atmosphere.

 

A gun tunnel, S9, was operated between 1963 and 1972. Mach numbers in the range 12-15 were reached in the test section during the run time of approximately 40 ms.

 

The high Reynolds number tunnel T1500 is operational since 1990. The transonic test section has four slotted walls. The tunnel is injector driven and a new 16 MPa drive system was built 1999, that increased the run time considerably.

 

The newest facility is a turbomachinery compressor research facility that was inaugurated 2006. The pressure in the exhaust channel can be controlled by an ejector connected to the 16 MPa system. The facility is well suited to our long experience in measurement techniques for air flow and its impact on bodies.