The wind tunnel boundary interference on a V/STOL model is calculated in a rectangular test section with solid vertical walls and ventilated (perforated or slotted) horizontal walls. The interference is found by applying the small perturbation theory of an incompressible fluid to the boundary value problem. The theory uses an image method in addition to Fourier transforms with an equivalent homogeneous boundary condition on the ventilated wall. The mathematical representation of the V/STOL model accounts for the curvature and decay of the wake. The assumption of a constant wake strength produces a paradox in that the maximum value of the interference factors increases as the initial jet velocity decreases. The most significant aspect of the analysis shows that nonlinear cross-flow effects at the tunnel boundary are important in the V/STOL case, and a quasi-linear approximation to these effects is introduced into the solution providing good agreement with experimental data.

The investigation reported herein is the experimental portion of a unified theoretical and experimental search for a slotted wind tunnel wall configuration with minimal interference for conventional and V/STOL models. It is shown that theory and experiment are in excellent agreement for the classical case provided an appropriate expression is used to relate the wall geometry to the boundary condition. Classical data correction equations are not appropriate for the V/STOL case, however. An additional term, not predicted by theory, is needed to account for changes in the jet wake. Geometric parameters which influence the wall interference quantities are indicated. Wall configurations are shown which will produce interference-free force data to a jet-to-free-stream velocity ratio of 4.5. (Author).