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High enthalpy, hypervelocity flows of air and argon in an expansion tube

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2016

A. J. Neely
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia
R. J. Stalker
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia
A. Paull
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Queensland, Australia

Abstract

An expansion tube with a free piston driver has been used to generate quasi-steady hypersonic flows in argon and air at flow velocities in excess of 9 km/s. Irregular test flow unsteadiness has limited the performance of previous expansion tubes, and it has been found that this can be avoided by attention to the interaction between the test gas accelerating expansion and the contact surface in the primary shock tube. Test section measurements of pitot pressure, static pressure and flat plate heat transfer are reported. An approximate analytical theory has been developed for predicting the velocities achieved in the unsteady expansion of the ionising or dissociating test gas.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 1991 

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