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The Ludwieg Pressure-Tube Supersonic Wind Tunnel

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 June 2016

A. J. Cable  and
R. N. Cox
A. J. Cable
Affiliation:
Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment
R. N. Cox
Affiliation:
Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment
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Summary

A description is given of a supersonic pressure-tube wind tunnel which has been constructed at A.R.D.E. This is a blow-down tunnel which uses as a reservoir a long tube filled with gas under pressure. A quasi-steady supersonic flow is achieved by expanding in a convergent-divergent nozzle the subsonic flow behind rarefaction waves which propagate down the tube when a diaphragm at the nozzle exit is burst. The theory of the operation of the tunnel is given and calculations are made of the boundary-layer growth along the tube. Pressure-time records were obtained in the tube, and a high speed camera was used to obtain pictures of the flow round a model. Measurements also included a pitot-tube traverse of the nozzle exit, and the Mach number distribution was determined from the ratio of the pitot to the stagnation pressure. Tests showed that, as predicted, a constant stagnation pressure was obtained ahead of the nozzle, and it is considered that a tunnel of this type would be a cheap and simple way of obtaining an intermittent tunnel with adequate running time for many types of test, and capable of operating at a Reynolds number of more than 107 per inch at a Mach number of about 3·5.

Type
Research Article
Information
Aeronautical Quarterly , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , May 1963 , pp. 143 - 157
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society. 1963

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References

1. Ludwieg, H. Der Rohrwindkanal. Zeitschift für Flugwissenschaften, Jahrgang 3, Heft 7, p. 206, July 1955.Google Scholar
2. Ludwieg, H. The Tube Wind Tunnel—A Special Type of Blowdown Tunnel. AGARD Report 143, July 1957.Google Scholar
3. Cox, R. N. Discussion Following the Presentation of Papers on Hypersonics. AGARD Reports 132-147, p, 28, July 1957.Google Scholar
4. Becker, E. Das Anwachsen der Grenzschicht in und hinter einer Expansionswelle. Ingenieur-Archiv, Part XXV, Heft 3, p. 155, 1957.Google Scholar