Design and Analysis of a Mach5+ Hypersonic Wind Tunnel
Abstract
Hypersonics sits atop a short list of Department of Defense research priorities outlined by the 2018 National Defense Strategy. The Naval Postgraduate School is uniquely equipped to contribute to this research as the current configuration of the gas dynamics laboratory is capable, with modifications, of facilitating long-runtime, high-Mach number flows. These long runtime flows will be capable of providing data for experiments in hypersonic shock-boundary layer interaction and ram/scramjet inlet design and analysis. Accordingly, this paper develops a design modification to upgrade the current Mach 4 wind tunnel into one capable of producing uniform Mach numbers greater than 5.0 for runtimes longer than 20 minutes. In the process, a method of computational fluid dynamics was developed to assess, modify, and redesign nozzles produced by an inviscid method of characteristics design tool to account for viscous effects. The computationally designed curves were then utilized to design hardware to be later procured to build and operate the tunnel. In addition to a modified tunnel geometry, an additional heater is required to ensure that the flow does not liquefy during expansion. The size and power of this heater to achieve Mach 5.0 flows was calculated. Finally, this project provides a foundation for later work in hardware procurement and tunnel construction to make NPS one of a handful of institutions capable of conduction research in hypersonics in the United States.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2021
- Accession Number
- AD1150811
Entities
People
- Connor J. Aspray
Organizations
- Naval Postgraduate School