Characterization of the UTSA Mach 7 Ludwieg Tube

Laser-Induced Diaphragm Rupture for Improved Sequencing and Repeatability in a Hypersonic Facility

“…Because of the challenges in comparing the sequencing for the natural diaphragm rupture to the laser-induced method, two natural burst points are shown in Figure 8: (1) where the average of the natural diaphragm rupture delays is set to 73 ms, thereby aligned with the earliest possible laser-induced rupture; and (2) where the first quartile from Figure 7 is set to occur at 73 ms. By these two metrics for natural diaphragm rupture timing, when setting the average delay to rupture as 73 ms only 39 % of runs will be successful, reducing to 31 % for method (2). It is possible that there is an intermediate condition exists where success rates in excess of 39% are possible, however it is unlikely that the success rate for the sequencing of free-flight testing would exceed 50% when reliant upon natural diaphragm rupture.…”

“…ew Ludwieg tube facilities have recently been commissioned at academic institutions [1,2] and other laboratories [3] around the globe and their popularity stems from low capital and operating costs, as well as their versatility across a range of hypersonic aerodynamic ground test applications. Ludwieg tubes are expected to play a significant role in world-wide hypersonic research efforts on access-to-space and hypersonic cruise technologies.…”

Fast-Responding Pressure-Sensitive Paint Measurements of the IC3X at Mach 7.2

“…The experimental campaign was conducted at the hypersonic Ludwieg Tube Wind Tunnel facility located at UTSA. This facility can generate a freestream Mach number of 7.2 ± 0.2 [28,29]. Figure 1 illustrates a CAD rendering of the UTSA Mach 7 wind tunnel, highlighting its main components.…”

“…Figure 1 illustrates a CAD rendering of the UTSA Mach 7 wind tunnel, highlighting its main components. With a stagnation pressure and temperature of 13.79 MPa (2000 psi) and 700 K (1260 • R), respectively, the wind tunnel is capable of achieving unit Reynolds numbers of up to 200 × 10 6 m −1 (61.0 × 10 6 ft −1 ) [28]. A comprehensive characterization of this facility can be found in the work of Hoffman et al [23,28].…”

“…With a stagnation pressure and temperature of 13.79 MPa (2000 psi) and 700 K (1260 °R), respectively, the wind tunnel is capable of achieving unit Reynolds numbers of up to 200 × 10 6 m −1 (61.0 × 10 6 ft −1 ) [28]. A comprehensive characterization of this facility can be found in the work of Hoffman et al [23,28]. Wind tunnel tests commence by rupturing a thin aluminum diaphragm that separates the 18.29 m (60 feet) long driver tube from the rest of the system.…”