Energy addition mechanisms radiatively-driven wind tunnel - Predictions and experiments
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1998 by Princeton University. Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics, Inc. The possibility of adding energy to a supersonic air flow in a controllable and stable manner opens up new approaches for building wind tunnels which can be used for vehicle testing under true flight conditions at greater than Mach 8. At these Mach numbers, conventional wind tunnels produce high levels of contamination in the air and cannot run for longer than a few milliseconds because of the exceedingly high temperatures required in the plenum. The Princeton Radiatively-Driven Hypersonic Wind Tunnel project is exploring the use of lasers, electron beams, and microwaves to accomplish this task. Power levels exceeding tens of megawatts are required, and the energy must be deposited into high pressure, supersonic air. Major issues are related to absorption mechanisms, thermalization, flow chemistry, flow stability, and wall heating.