Aerothermal and Propulsion Ground Testing That Can Be Conducted to Increase Chances for Successful Hypervelocity Flight Experiments
Abstract
Flight test experiments are significantly more risky and the results are in general less accurate than the equivalent studies in ground test facilities. The requirements for ground test simulation in hypersonic/hypersonic flows generally vary with the object of the study. Above 15,000 ft/s, not only is it extremely difficult to develop the temperatures and pressures required to directly simulate the flight environment, the properties of the gas in the reservoir and the gas expanded to freestream conditions are not well known and for most testing constitute a significant departure from the gas encountered by a flight vehicle traveling at these velocities. Ground tests at fully duplicated or well simulated flight conditions are essential to minimize the risks associated with flight test programs from the perspective of overall vehicle performance and detailed measurements to investigate flow phenomena associated with real gas effects, boundary layer transition, turbulence and shock interaction phenomena and mixing and combustion. Both flight test and ground test planning and evaluation should be totally integrated and supported by detailed numerical computations employing DSMC, Navier-Stokes and empirical prediction methods. Hypersonic ground test facilities are available to perform full-scale testing at fully duplicated flight conditions of vehicles up to 3 to 6 meters in length. Flight test programs should be conducted in concert with and not at the expense of improving our ground test facilities and measurements techniques.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA476574
Entities
People
- Michael S. Holden
Organizations
- Calspan-University of Buffalo Research Center