An Experimental Investigation of Short Diffusers for Gas Dynamic Lasers

Abstract

One of the largest components of a gas dynamic laser is the diffuser. A significant reduction in the size of this component could represent a significant savings in the size and weight of the entire system. The purpose of this investigation was to examine several short supersonic diffuser designs with fixed walls and no boundary layer control. Thick diffusers with shallow ramp angles are supposed to provide optimum pressure recovery for fixed diffusers. It was found in this investigation, however, that no loss of pressure recovery is suffered when steep ramp angles and thin diffusers are used. Steep ramps and thin diffuser sections would serve to minimize both the length and weight of supersonic diffusers. Start-up times were also investigated.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 01, 1974
Accession Number
AD0787436

Entities

People

  • John Joseph Zerr

Organizations

  • Naval Postgraduate School

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Barometric Pressure
  • Boundaries
  • Boundary Layer
  • Boundary Layer Control
  • Diffusers
  • Flow
  • Flow Visualization
  • Fluid Flow
  • Gas Dynamic Lasers
  • Geometry
  • Laser Applications
  • Lasers
  • Mach Number
  • Photographs
  • Photography
  • Supersonic Diffusers
  • Wind Tunnels

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Systems Analysis and Design

Technology Areas

  • Directed Energy
  • Hypersonics