Aerodynamics Laboratory

The Aerodynamics Laboratory is one of five laboratories at the NRC Institute for Aerospace Research (NRC Aerospace), located in Ottawa, Canada.

The Laboratory engages in research and provides services to clients in fixed- and rotary-wing aerodynamics and exploits its aerodynamic knowledge and capabilities in non-aeronautical applications such as bridges, tall buildings, and surface vehicles.

Sophisticated computational fluid dynamics (CFD) tools coupled with high-quality and efficient wind tunnels provide cost-effective support for research and product development. The Laboratory applies analytical, computational and experimental approaches to problems associated with flight vehicles operating in a broad spectrum of environments, from MAVs at very low speeds to missiles in hypersonic flight to rotorcraft in highly turbulent environments.

A significant capability also exists to experimentally and numerically study the effects of icing on the performance of fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and cables. On the non-aeronautical side, the Laboratory has been involved with wind loading studies for some of the world's major structures and is recognized worldwide for surface vehicle aerodynamics expertise.