Development of an Inline Air Heating System for the Polysonic Wind Tunnel
Abstract
Under-Represented Minority (URM) scientists and engineers typically come from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs). These institutions have done great work in training URM students; however, there is much effort needed to provide research and workforce development opportunities for these students in technical areas like Aerospace Engineering. URM students often do not get the training needed to help them pursue opportunities and graduate degrees in engineering fields. A very small percentage of students participate in an Undergraduate Research Experience (URE). This is regrettable, especially since UREs can be a major indicator of who is retained in engineering majors, pursues graduate education, and matriculates into fields in which they are under-represented. Research and education infrastructure is needed to address the gap in URM participation in aerospace-related undergraduate and graduate research. Furthermore, many academic institutions have scaled back their experimental research programs in favor of computational endeavors. This is more evident in aerospace and aviation research because the operation and maintenance of wind tunnels and high-speed testing facilities are time-consuming and expensive. As a result, there is a long-term shortage of technical personnel who can conduct experimental testing, and it will take decades of extensive training and experience to cultivate capable personnel in this field. High-speed wind tunnel testing will continue to play an important role in the development of a flight vehicle for the foreseeable future due to its affordability in comparison to flight testing. The need for simulating realistic flow conditions in a wind tunnel is critical for reliability and data accuracy. The Florida A& M University polysonic wind tunnel (PSWT) is capable of operation in the Mach number range of 0.2 to 5. The PSWT is a medium scale facility and has proven to be very useful to the Department of Defense research projects and is efficiently operated by graduate students and research faculty. It has engaged students in multidisciplinary fundamental and practical problems and state-of-the-art diagnostics. Although the facility is designed to operate at a Mach number of 5, the temperature of the air in the test section goes down significantly due to flow expansion at high supersonic Mach numbers. This limits the blowdown time and affects the Reynolds number during the tests. At Mach 5, the drop in temperature even causes liquefaction of oxygen. The objective of the proposed equipment grant is to develop an inline air heating system for the PSWT. Major equipment for the air heating system includes an electric inline heater, liquid holding tank, expansion tank, pump, heat exchanger, solenoid valve, piping, and control instrumentation. The PSWT is involved in testing for various research projects supported by government laboratories and industry in addition to training next-generation of engineers and scientists. For example, research projects that will significantly benefit from air heating system installed in the PSWT are the experimental investigation to inform the design and development of a high-speed projectile supported by Army Research Office (ARO) and experimental investigation to study multi-body aerodynamic interactions supported by Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 02, 2022
- Source ID
- W911NF2210174
Entities
People
- Kumar Rajan
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Florida A&M University
- United States Army