Date of Award

Fall 2013

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering

Program/Concentration

Aerospace Engineering

Committee Director

Colin P. Britcher

Committee Member

Drew Landman

Committee Member

Kareem Ahmed

Call Number for Print

Special Collections; LD4331.E56 P533 2013

Abstract

The small-scale, cryogenic, and high pressure characteristics of the 0.3-Meter Transonic Cryogenic Tunnel provide a unique, high-Reynolds number research capability. However, the facility is currently restricted by its reliance on a two-dimensional adaptive wall test section coupled with an inadequate facility control system. Access to the test section is restricted, the walls require excess time for convergence and are mechanically constrained by a wall jacking system that degrades under cyclic cryogenic operations, and the tunnel requires excessive time to reach the set point, particularly at low Mach numbers. As a result, productivity and operational efficiency are limited, leading to expensive testing. Research is currently being conducted into new design concepts for a modular transonic test section with passive ventilated walls. The new test section will be adaptable so as to simulate the behavior of a variety of transonic facilities, initially the NTF and the Ames 11ft transonic tunnel. The ability to simulate other transonic facilities allows researchers to pursue risk reduction experiments, improve test planning and address fundamental flow problems such as the study of wall interference correction techniques and application of modern fluid dynamic measurement techniques under transonic high Reynolds number conditions.

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DOI

10.25777/hck2-y328

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