High-enthaly characterization of the UTA hypersonic shock tunnel

In hypersonic wind tunnel testing, matching the flow enthalpy conditions for the hypersonic air-breathing corridor is of great importance in order to assure the validity of experimental results. The flow enthalpy of the UTA hypersonic shock tunnel is increased by a shock induced detonation driver. The detonation mixture consist of hydrogen and oxygen in stoichiometric quantities (2H2+O2 → 2H2O). Experimental variations of pressure and the volume of the detonation section were performed to characterize the enthalpy limits, and overall performance of the UTA hypersonic shock tunnel. The UTA HST test section is designed for a nominal Mach number of 10. Force balance experiments were performed in the test section during the high enthalpy characterization. Enthalpy measurements were also performed using a type K thermocouple placed in a Fay-Riddell probe within the test section. High enthalpy flows with maximum total temperature of 4393 K, maximum total pressure of 373 atm, and maximum total enthalpy of 5.1 MJ/Kg are achieved in the driven section, with Mach numbers of 8.75 +/- 0.25 measured in the test section.