High Reynolds Number Quiet Mach 6 Nozzle Fabrication and Natural Transition Experiments
Abstract
The proposal will experimentally study the effects of nose bluntness on right circular cones. To be able to do that, a high Reynolds number quiet Mach 6 wind tunnel is currently under construction at the University of Notre Dame. This offers the opportunity to re-examinesome of the fundamental experiments on boundary layer transition in a quiet environment including Stetson s nosetip bluntness effects that were also recently simulated by Jewell and Kimmel.The tunnel is the only one in the U.S. that is capable of studying natural turbulent transition that critically impacts surface heating, skin friction, ow separation, aero-optical distortion, and other boundary-layer properties that are important to hypersonic aircraft. The facility is designed to accommodate models greater than 2 m. in length that reside completely in the quiet region, and reach Reynolds numbers of 40x106 where flight tests indicate turbulent transition occurs. The building enclosing the wind tunnel is specially designed to meet FCL requirements. The expected completion date of the facility is July 2018. To meet that schedule, we are seeking funds for the fabrication of the expansion portion of the nozzle, which is a key element of the quiet tunnel design. The quiet nozzle shape is based on a recent design optimization that sought to minimize the overall nozzle length (and cost) while maintaining sufficiently low disturbance amplification factors and uniform ow at the exit plane. This led to an optimum design that reduced the length of the nozzle by from 20 to 40 percent. The new wind tunnel will be an asset for focused fundamental research as well as supporting test and evaluation of proposed systems.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 11, 2017
- Source ID
- FA95501710347
Entities
People
- Thomas Corke
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of Notre Dame