Experimental Studies of Instability and Transition in a Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel
Abstract
The Mach-6 tunnel continues to run quiet to moderately high Reynolds numbers. Although the maximum quiet pressure was more variable in the last few years, due to problems with tunnel particulate and nozzle roughness, quiet flow was recently achieved past the nozzle exit to a stagnation pressure of 180 psia. This is the highest quiet Reynolds number ever achieved. Since the nozzle-wall boundary layer remained laminar downstream of the exit to unit Reynolds numbers of more than 10-13 million per meter during the last 4 years, fairly high quiet-flow Reynolds numbers have been achieved on slender models. The tunnel is operated by a single graduate student, with good reliability, and a large amount of data can be obtained during each run using a variety of sensors. Instability and transition measurements were carried out on various models to aid in developing mechanism-based transition-estimation methods that can then be used to predict transition in flight. The research funded under this grant has so far resulted in 22 conference papers, 9 journal papers, 3 Master's theses and 4 Ph.D. theses. Leadership of this tunnel has now passed to the next generation, in the form of Asst. Prof. Joseph Jewell. A brief summary is reported here, along with selected highlights.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 08, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1231098
Entities
People
- Steven Schneider
Organizations
- Purdue University