The X3R Free-Piston Reflected Shock Tunnel: Australia's New Large-Scale, Long-Duration Hypersonic Testing Capability

Stennett, Samuel; Gildfind, David; Jacobs, Peter A.; Morgan, Richard G.; James, Christopher M.; Toniato, Pierpaolo

doi:10.2514/6.2020-2447

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…At present, large-scale facilities are the subject of significant interest, which is expected to further increase in the future. [33][34][35] Thus, the accelerator gas slug is initially 25 m long to model a 25 m acceleration tube corresponding to a large-scale ET like the LENS XX and X3. 9,22 The initial length of the test gas slug is 10 m, which is long enough to prevent the unsteady expansion fan head from reaching the moving wall during the time scales considered for the current work.…”

Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of thermochemical nonequilibrium on expansion tube air test conditions: A numerical study

Hao

Wang

et al. 2023

Physics of Fluids

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Using a Lagrangian solver, thermochemical nonequilibrium simulations are performed for the entire range of practical operating conditions of expansion tubes to isolate the influence of nonequilibrium and identify key features in large-scale facilities. Particular attention is given not only to the influence of the nonequilibrium unsteady expansion but also to the influences of the nonequilibrium region behind the primary shock and non-ideal secondary diaphragm rupture. The nonequilibrium unsteady expansion is found to be the most influential process on the test flow - it can significantly influence the flow properties and cause significant temporal variations in the properties during the test time. The nonequilibrium unsteady expansion is also found to accelerate the secondary shock and contact surface. The non-ideal secondary diaphragm rupture is found to increase the amount of nonequilibrium in the test flow due to the generation of a reflected shock. The nonequilibrium region behind the primary shock may be considered negligible in most conditions. Regarding the creation of thermochemical equilibrium test conditions, important factors for achieving this include having a high acceleration tube fill pressure, large-scale facility, and high total enthalpy. The combined effects of viscosity and nonequilibrium are postulated, and the results are supported by experimental works which report consistent findings. To provide an idea of the sensitivity of the numerical configuration, simulations of fixed-volume reactors at various de-excitation conditions are performed using different nonequilibrium models.

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Section: Articlementioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of thermochemical nonequilibrium on expansion tube air test conditions: A numerical study

Hao

Wang

et al. 2023

Physics of Fluids

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“…As RSTs typically have test times between 1 ms and 10 ms, they are particularly suitable for the investigation of relatively long time-scale phenomena where flow enthalpy is important, such as combustion. Many large-scale RST facilities operate world wide, with capability to test up to orbital conditions (Hannemann et al 2016;Stennett et al 2020;Itoh et al 1998;Mundt 2016;Wang et al 2017;Tsai et al 2009).…”

Section: Reflected Shock Tunnel Modementioning

confidence: 99%

Development and commissioning of the T6 Stalker Tunnel

et al. 2021

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The T6 Stalker Tunnel is a multi-mode, high-enthalpy, transient ground test facility. It is the first of its type in the UK. The facility combines the original free-piston driver from the T3 Shock Tunnel with modified barrels from the Oxford Gun Tunnel. Depending on test requirements, it can operate as a shock tube, reflected shock tunnel or expansion tube. Commissioning tests of the free-piston driver are discussed, including the development of four baseline driver conditions using piston masses of either 36 kg or 89 kg. Experimental data are presented for each operating mode, with comparison made to numerical simulations. In general, high-quality test flows are observed. The calculated enthalpy range of the experimental conditions achieved varies from $$2.7\hbox { MJ kg}^{-1}$$ 2.7 MJ kg - 1 to $$115.0\hbox { MJ kg}^{-1}$$ 115.0 MJ kg - 1 . Graphical abstract

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Large-scale free-piston-driven multi-mode shock expansion tunnel

Stennett,

Gildfind,

Andrianatos

et al. 2024

Exp Fluids

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X3/R is a new large-scale free-piston-driven dual-mode shock expansion tube, developed and operated collaboratively by the University of Queensland (UQ) and Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG). The facility can be converted between a long-duration reflected shock tunnel (RST), a super-orbital expansion tube (X-mode), and a non-reflected shock tube (NRST). In RST mode, the facility is currently capable of producing 600 mm diameter Mach 7 test flows at 25–50 kPa dynamic pressure for more than 10 ms. In expansion tube mode, the facility can reach enthalpies up to 80 MJ/kg for test times on the order of 500–1000 $${\mu }$$ μ s. This paper presents the new facility, summarizes its current operational capabilities, and discusses key the technical challenges overcome during its development.

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The X3R Free-Piston Reflected Shock Tunnel: Australia's New Large-Scale, Long-Duration Hypersonic Testing Capability

Cited by 4 publications

References 8 publications

Influence of thermochemical nonequilibrium on expansion tube air test conditions: A numerical study

Influence of thermochemical nonequilibrium on expansion tube air test conditions: A numerical study

Development and commissioning of the T6 Stalker Tunnel

Large-scale free-piston-driven multi-mode shock expansion tunnel

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