An Investigation of the AFIT 2-Inch Shock Tube as a Flow Source for Supersonic Testing.

Abstract

An investigation of the AFIT high pressure shock tube was conducted to determine how closely it followed ideal shock tube theory and to determine the available test times for an attached Mach 3 nozzle. The driver section was five feet (1.52 m) long and the driven section was 25 feet (7.62 m) long. The driver gas used for this study was helium while the driven gas was atmospheric air. The pressure rise measured behind the incident shock wave was, on average, 30% lower than predicted by the ideal shock tube relations. Behind the reflected shock, the pressure rise was 65% lower than predictions based on initial driver gas pressure. Due to supply pressure limits and lower than predicted pressures behind the shock waves, fully expanded flow in the Mach 3 nozzle was not attained. However, steady overexpanded flows of Mach 2.74-2.96 were observed for periods of 4-12 milliseconds.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 01, 1994
Accession Number
ADA289246

Entities

People

  • Kevin M. Vlcek

Organizations

  • Air Force Institute of Technology

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Engineering
  • Equations
  • Flow
  • Flow Rate
  • High Pressure
  • Mach Number
  • Mass Flow
  • Meteorological Satellites
  • Pressure Transducers
  • Shock
  • Shock Tubes
  • Shock Waves
  • Specific Heat
  • Steady Flow
  • Tubes
  • Waves

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science / Meteorology, specifically Wind Wave Turbulence.
  • Combustion and Flow Dynamics.
  • Explosive Engineering.

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Flow