Nitrogen driver for low-enthalpy testing in free-piston-driven shock tunnels
Article
Article Title | Nitrogen driver for low-enthalpy testing in free-piston-driven shock tunnels |
---|---|
ERA Journal ID | 1299 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | Chan, W. Y. K. (Author), Whitside, R. W. (Author), Smart, M. K. (Author), Gildfind, D. E. (Author), Jacobs, P. A. (Author) and Sopek, T. (Author) |
Journal Title | Shock Waves: an international journal on shock waves, detonations and explosions |
Journal Citation | 31, pp. 541-550 |
Number of Pages | 10 |
Year | 2021 |
Publisher | Springer |
Place of Publication | Germany |
ISSN | 0938-1287 |
1432-2153 | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1007/s00193-021-01002-0 |
Web Address (URL) | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00193-021-01002-0 |
Abstract | Nitrogen is proposed as a suitable driver gas candidate for the operation of free-piston-driven shock tunnels at low total enthalpies. When compressed adiabatically, nitrogen has a lower speed of sound than the commonly used driver gases, e.g., argon and helium, thus providing the ability to achieve tailored conditions and longer test durations at lower enthalpies. This paper describes the methodology used to design operating conditions using nitrogen as the driver gas and presents an experimental and numerical demonstration of its use to achieve tailored conditions in a free-piston-driven shock tunnel. In this demonstration, the useful test flow duration was extended from less than 0.5 ms to 4 ms based on a constant-nozzle-supply-pressure criterion for tests at total enthalpies of 1.6 MJ/kg. The same design methodology was then used to develop different nitrogen–argon driver conditions for tailored operation in the free-piston-driven shock tunnel T4 for enthalpies spanning from 1.6 to 3.2 MJ/kg. With a nitrogen driver gas, T4, which was originally designed for operation up to Mach 25 flight conditions, can now operate at conditions as low as an equivalent flight Mach number of 5.5. This is significant because the experimental results, supported by numerical simulations, clearly demonstrate that nitrogen can be used as a driver gas in free-piston-driven shock tunnels to maximise the duration at which test conditions are held constant when testing at low total enthalpies. |
Keywords | Free-piston-driven shock tunnel, Tailoring, Low-enthalpy testing, Nitrogen driver gas |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 401204. Computational methods in fluid flow, heat and mass transfer (incl. computational fluid dynamics) |
400106. Hypersonic propulsion and hypersonic aerothermodynamics | |
401205. Experimental methods in fluid flow, heat and mass transfer | |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | University of Queensland |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q7938/nitrogen-driver-for-low-enthalpy-testing-in-free-piston-driven-shock-tunnels
67
total views3
total downloads2
views this month0
downloads this month