The high-pressure shock tube facility (HiPER-STAR) at the University of Central Florida (UCF) is analyzed experimentally to demonstrate the practicality of hypersonic aero-optical testing in an impulse facility without the use of an expansion nozzle or acceleration tube. The investigation analyses driver gas blending with helium and hydrogen to raise the speed of sound ratio in an attempt to increase the Mach number for aero-optics testing. HiPER-STAR has a unique ability to withstand pressures up to 1000 atm and run in a double diaphragm configuration allowing for a significant pressure differential to be created between the driver and driven sections. Results from this study show that hydrogen and helium blending can drastically increase the maximum Mach number of HiPER-STAR; Mach numbers up to 15 were generated at a variety of altitudes. Experiment test time varied on shock velocity but was purely dependent on the arrival of the reflected shock wave to measurement locations. The aero-optics data that was collected and visually captured with a high-speed camera clearly shows beam aberration due to density gradients and a diminishing light intensity indicating that hypersonic aero-optical phenomenon can be captured reliably and repeatedly with a shock tube.

This research focuses on advancing our understanding of flame stability in supersonic non-premixed flames by employing experimental data to develop a flame stability correlation parameter (SCP). Experimental data were acquired from a generalized supersonic cavity flameholder combustor equipped with converging-diverging (CD) nozzles, generating Mach 1.8-3 flow at the combustor inlet. The study encompassed both upstream and direct cavity fuel injection methods, considering diverse flameholder geometries, including axisymmetric and rectangular configurations, and utilizing ethylene and propane fuels. To address the flame stability challenge, the critical physical parameters impacting SCP were systematically identified, categorizing them into two distinct domains: the flow timescale and the chemical timescale, delineated by the Damköhler number. Flow timescale parameters were assessed by modifying flow rate to account for compressibility effects. These parameters were found to be significantly influenced by density variations attributed to high-speed aerodynamics. Pressure increases and velocity reductions at the flame shear layer were observed, arising from cavity geometry, upstream fuel jet dynamics, and flame presence. As the Mach number increased or pressure decreased, the flow timescale exhibited a proportional increase. The chemical timescale parameters were investigated through similarity, showing sensitivity to thermal diffusivity, flame speed, and flame shear layer thickness. These were further deconstructed into physical parameters such as pressure and temperature. It was observed that the chemical timescale decreased with rising temperature and pressure. Empirical relationships were derived for both flow and chemical timescales, enabling the consolidation of flame stability data onto a unified curve. This research significantly advances the understanding of flame stability mechanisms in supersonic combustion. All data was generously provided by the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL).

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An integrated aerodynamic-ramp-injector/plasma-torch-igniter of original design was tested in a Mâ = 2, unvitiated, heated flow facility arranged as a diverging duct scramjet combustor. The facility operated at a total temperature of 1000 K and total pressure of 330 kPa. Hydrogen (H2), ethylene (C2H4) and methane (CH4) were used as fuels, and a wide range of global equivalence ratios were tested. The main data obtained were wall static pressure measurements, and the presence of combustion was determined based on the pressure rises obtained. Supersonic and dual-mode combustion were achieved with hydrogen and ethylene fuel, whereas very limited heat release was obtained with the methane. Global operability limits were determined to be 0.07 < Ï < 0.31 for hydrogen, and 0.14 < Ï < 0.48 for ethylene. The hydrogen fuel data for the aeroramp/torch system was compared to data from a physical 10 unswept compression ramp injector and similar performance was found with the two arrangements. With hydrogen and ethylene as fuels and the aeroramp/plasma-torch system, the effect of varying the air total temperature was investigated. Supersonic combustion was achieved with temperatures as low as 530K and 680K for the two fuels, respectively. These temperatures are facility/operational limits, not combustion limits. The pressure profiles were analyzed using the Ramjet Propulsion Analysis (RJPA) code. Results indicate that both supersonic and dual-mode ramjet combustion were achieved. Combustion efficiencies varied with Ï from a high of about 75% to a low of about 45% at the highest Ï . With a theoretical diffuser and nozzle assumed for the configuration and engine, thrust was computed for each fuel. Fuel specific impulse was on average 3000 and 1000 seconds for hydrogen and ethylene respectively, and air specific impulse varied from a low of about 9 sec to a high of about 24 sec (for both fuels) for the To = 1000K test condition. The GASP RANS code was used to numerically simulate the injection and mixing process of the fuels. The results of this study were very useful in determining the suitability of the selected plasma torch locations. Further, this tool can be used to determine whether combustion is theoretically possible or not. / Ph. D.

A series of direct-measuring skin friction gages were developed for a high-speed, high-temperature environment of the turbulent boundary layer in flows such as that in supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) engines, with a progression from free-jet ground tests to a design for an actual hypersonic scramjet-integrated flight vehicle. The designs were non-nulling, with a sensing head that was flush with the model wall and surrounded by a small gap. Thus, the shear force due to the flow along the wall deflects the head, inducing a measurable strain. Strain gages were used to detect the strain. The gages were statically calibrated using a direct force method. The designs were verified by testing in a well-documented Mach 2.4 cold flow. Results of the cold-flow tests were repeatable and within 15% of the value of Cf estimated from simple theory. The first gage design incorporated a cantilever beam with semiconductor strain gages to sense the shear on the floating head. Cooling water was routed both internally and around the external housing in order to control the temperature of the strain gages. This first gage was installed and tested in a rocket-based-combined-cycle (RBCC) engine model operating in the scramjet mode. The free-jet facility provided a Mach 6.4 flow with P0 = 1350 psia (9310 kPa) and T0 = 2800 °R (1555 °K). Local wall temperatures were measured between 850 and 900 °R (472-500 °K). Output from the RBCC scramjet tests was reasonable and repeatable. A second skin friction gage was designed for and tested in a wind tunnel model of the Hyper-X flight vehicle scramjet engine. These unsuccessful tests revealed the need for a radically different skin friction gage design. The third and final skin friction gage was specifically developed to be installed on the Hyper-X flight vehicle. Rather than the cantilever beam and semiconductor strain gages, the third skin friction gage made use of a flexure ring and metal foil strain gages to sense the shear. The water-cooling and oil-fill used on the previous skin friction sensors were eliminated. It was qualified for flight through a rigorous series of environmental tests, including pressure, temperature, vibration, and heat flux tests. Finally, the third skin friction gage was tested in the Hyper-X Engine Model (HXEM), a full-scale-partial-width wind tunnel model of the flight vehicle engine. These tests were conducted at Mach 6.5 enthalpy with P0 = 555 psia (3827 kPa) and h0 = 900 Btu/lbm in a freejet facility. The successful testing in the wind tunnel scramjet model provided the final verification of the gage before installation in the flight vehicle engine. The development, testing, and results of all three skin friction gages are discussed. / Ph. D.

Experiments were performed with two different helium injector models at different injector transverse and yaw angles in order to determine the mixing rate and core penetration of the injectant and the flow field total pressure losses. when gaseous injection occurs into a supersonic freestream. Tested in the Virginia Tech supersonic tunnel. with a freestream Mach number of 3.0 and conditions corresponding to a freestream Reynolds number of 5.0 x 107 1m. was a single. sonic. 5X underexpanded, helium jet at a downstream angle of 30° relative to the freestream. This injector was rotated from 0° to _28° to test the effects of injector yaw. The second model was an array of three supersonic, 5X underexpanded helium injectors with an exit Mach number of 1.7 and a transverse angle of 15°. This model was tested in the NASA Langley Mach 6.0, High Reynolds number tunnel, with freestream conditions corresponding to a Reynolds number of 5.4 x 10⁷ /m. The injector array as tested at yaw angles of 0° and -15°. Surface flow visualization showed that significant flow asymmetries were produced by injector yaw. Nanosecond exposure shadowgraph pictures were taken, showing the gaseous injection plume to be unsteady, and further studies demonstrated this unsteadiness was related to shock waves orthogonal to the injectant bow shock, that were generated at a frequency of 30 kHz. The primary data technique used, was a concentration probe which measured the molar concentration of helium in the flow field. Concentration data and other meanflow data was taken at several downstream axial stations and yielded contours of helium concentration, total pressure, Mach number, velocity, and mass flux, as well as the static properties. From these contour plots, the various mixing rates for each case were determined. The injectant mixing rates, expressed as the maximum concentration decay, and mixing distances were found to be unaffected by injector yaw, in the Mach 3.0 experiments, but were adversely affected by injector yaw in the Mach 6.0 experiments. One promising aspect of injector yaw was the that as the yaw angle was increased, lateral motion of the injectant plume became significant, and the turbulent mixing region area increased by approximately 34%. Comparisons of the 15° transverse angled injection into a Mach 6.0 flow to previous experiments with 15° injection into a Mach 3.0 freestream, demonstrated that there is a significant decrease in initial mixing, at Mach 6.0, resulting in a much longer mixing distance. From a parametric computational study of the Mach 6.0 experiments, the effects of adjacent injectors was found to decrease lateral spreading while increasing the vertical penetration of the injectant plume, and marginally increasing the injectant core decay rate. Matching of the computational results to the experimental results was best achieved when using the Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model without the Degani-Schiff modification. / Ph. D.