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Click on the image to see what is happening in the X3 lab |
Click on the image to see what is happening in the T4 lab |
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| These images of the flow around a simulated spacecraft and ballute
were obtained in the X2 super-orbital expansion tube using near-resonance
holographic interferometry. This work was performed for JPL and involved
the investigation of flows over a spacecraft followed by a toroidal ballute.
This work follows an earlier study carried out in T5, which examined flows
relevant to aerocapture missions to Mars, Titan, and Neptune. The experimental
work was carried out in the X2 super-orbital expansion tube. The
experiments covered five separate operating conditions: moderate enthalpy
(~20 MJ/kg) carbon dioxide and nitrogen for comparison with the earlier
studies in T5; high enthalpy (~60 MJ/kg) carbon dioxide and nitrogen; and
high enthalpy (~80 MJ/kg) hydrogen/neon.
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| This luminosity photograph was taken in X3 by Dr. R.Ramesh, Mr. Markus Kuhn and Prof. Richard Morgan. A sharp leading edge caret wing with a wedge angle of 7.5 degrees and sweep angle of 73 degrees was tested using an external 3-component stress-wave force balance at a speed of 9.25 km/s with air as the test gas. |
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| The photograph shows the second launch of the HyShot experiment. This launch took place at theWoomera rocket range in South Australia on 30 July 2002. The supersonic combustion experimental module was placed atop a two-stage Terrier-Orion rocket. Once the rocket had left the atmosphere, its nose cone was ejected and its orientation altered so that its nose pointed back towards the earth. The rocket reached a maximum altitude of about 315 km and fell back towards the earth, re-entering about nine minutes after launch. At an altitude of approximately 35 km hydrogen fuel was injected into the combustor duct and fuel flow continued until an altitude of approximately 20 km. The scramjet module was still attached to the second stage (Orion) booster and was travelling at approximately Mach 7.5 during the period of fuel injection. Preliminary results from the flight indicate that supersonic combustion was achieved during the flight. Results are being submitted for international peer review. Results will be compared with measurements made on the same configuration in the T4 shock tunnel. Click on the picture of the rocket or here for some more details. |
| This luminosity photograph was taken in the T4 Shock Tunnel at The University of Queensland in 1993. It is a photograph of a complete scramjet vehicle (including inlet, combustion chambers and thrust surfaces) and is connected to a stress wave force balance. This is the first reported complete scramjet powered vehicle which has been demonstrated to produce more thrust than drag! |
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(click on image to see video) ... (Note: AVI file for this video is 4.9MB)
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This is a single image from a video taken in the UQ Mach 3 blowdown tunnel. Click on the image to download an AVI file showing the complete video. Heat transfer under a swept shock wave boundary layer interaction can be inferred from the time history of surface temperature. Thermochromic liquid crystals (which change colour with temperature) are used to measure the time-history of the surface temperatrure. Flow is from right to left at Mach 3. At the bottom is an 8o wedge generating a shock wave which sweeps across the surface and interacts with the boundary layer formed on it. A thermocouple, used to calibrate the liquid crystal, can be seen running along the surface at the top. Regions of high heat transfer (close to the wedge) change colour first and regions of low heat transfer (under the line of the shock) change colour last. |
| This is another luminosity photograph. It is a 1/10th scale model of the Japanese MUSES-C capsule. The MUSES-C project involves rendevous of a probe with an asteroid, collection of a sample and return of the sample to earth. This experiment is to examine heat transfer to the re-entry capsule. The photograph was taken by Robert Palmer in the X2 expansion tube. The flow speed in this case was 9 km/s and flow direction is right to left. |
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This luminosity photograph of the Starship Enterprise was taken in
the X2 expansion tube by Dr. Tim McIntyre during Expo-Uni 1999.
A scale model was placed in the test section and the facility used to generate
a high speed gas flow of around 6.6 km/s. This was passed over the USS
Enterprise for a duration of approximately 100 microseconds.
Click here for more details of the tests and to see the unfortunate ultimate fate of the model. |
| This luminosity photograph was taken in the X2 expansion tube at The University of Queensland by Assoc. Prof. Richard Morgan. The speed of the flow is 11.5 km/sec and the gas is a 60% H2/Ne mixture. These conditions were chosen to give similarity with the H2/He gas of Jupiter at 50 km/s (where champagne corks are thought often to exceed speeds of 40 km/s). This cork exceeded the previously held champagne-cork world speed record set in the gun tunnel at Oxford University. A CFD simulation of this is also available here. |
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| Centre
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The University of Queensland Brisbane, Queensland 4072 Australia Phone: +61 (7) 3365 3592 Email: morgan@mech.uq.edu.au Web: http://www.mech.uq.edu.au/hyper/ |
Created
by: Centre for Hypersonics Web Editorr
Authorised by: Director of Centre Modified: 21 October 2003 © 2003 The University of Queensland |
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