Proposals are sought to design, fabricate, deliver, and install a diffuser for the Arizona Polysonic Wind Tunnel. 5.1.1 Historical perspective. APWT is a high-speed wind tunnel recently installed at UArizona but was first constructed in the 1950s for Fairchild Republic on Long Island. During its history it has also spent time at Grumann, Polytechnic University and GASL/Orbital ATK before coming to UArizona around 2020. An effort is currently underway to modernize the facility and expand its capabilities to include both transonic and hypersonic testing. 5.1.2 Current configuration. APWT is setup in a blowdown-to-atmosphere tunnel configuration. High-pressure air is stored upstream at up to 2400 psi, then throttled into the tunnel settling chamber (rated to 600 psi). Both supersonic and transonic test sections are nominally 15in x 15in and dump into a 36in diameter duct that connects to the external exhaust stack.
