A combined experimental and numerical study of multidimensional viscous flows at speeds exceeding 8 km/s is reported. Experiments were performed in the X3 superorbital expansion tube with air and nitrogen test flows at a Mach number and total enthalpy of 10 and 40 MJ/kg, respectively. Laminar skin friction, heat flux and pressure measurements were obtained at regular intervals along one wall of a rectangular duct. The spatial resolution of the transducers was chosen to capture the multidimensional flow phenomena within the duct. Quasi-steady flow periods were established along the entire length of the duct in the test times offered by the expansion tube. Direct skin friction measurements were accomplished through the use of ‘in house’ acceleration compensated transducers. The successful operation of these skin friction transducers in a high performance expansion tube was demonstrated. Furthermore, the systematic uncertainty in measured shear stress was significantly reduced with the development of a new pressure calibration technique. For the conditions tested, Reynolds analogy was shown to be valid to within experimental uncertainty. The experimental data was in excellent agreement with numerical estimates. Three-dimensional numerical simulations of the diverging duct revealed that the flowfield structure in the vicinity of the corners differs from that of an unbounded corner or a constant area duct. Real gas effects other than those present in the residual nonequilibrium levels of freestream dissociation were negligible for the conditions tested. A computational study of two waverider configurations recently tested in the X3 superorbital expansion tube was conducted to assist in the interpretation of past results. The off-design aerodynamic performance was also analyzed and showed that blunting the leading edges dramatically degraded the performance by increasing drag and decreasing lift for the conditions considered.

A combined experimental and numerical study of multidimensional viscous flows at speeds exceeding 8 km/s is reported. Experiments were performed in the X3 superorbital expansion tube with air and nitrogen test flows at a Mach number and total enthalpy of 10 and 40 MJ/kg, respectively. Laminar skin friction, heat flux and pressure measurements were obtained at regular intervals along one wall of a rectangular duct. The spatial resolution of the transducers was chosen to capture the multidimensional flow phenomena within the duct. Quasi-steady flow periods were established along the entire length of the duct in the test times offered by the expansion tube. Direct skin friction measurements were accomplished through the use of ‘in house’ acceleration compensated transducers. The successful operation of these skin friction transducers in a high performance expansion tube was demonstrated. Furthermore, the systematic uncertainty in measured shear stress was significantly reduced with the development of a new pressure calibration technique. For the conditions tested, Reynolds analogy was shown to be valid to within experimental uncertainty. The experimental data was in excellent agreement with numerical estimates. Three-dimensional numerical simulations of the diverging duct revealed that the flowfield structure in the vicinity of the corners differs from that of an unbounded corner or a constant area duct. Real gas effects other than those present in the residual nonequilibrium levels of freestream dissociation were negligible for the conditions tested. A computational study of two waverider configurations recently tested in the X3 superorbital expansion tube was conducted to assist in the interpretation of past results. The off-design aerodynamic performance was also analyzed and showed that blunting the leading edges dramatically degraded the performance by increasing drag and decreasing lift for the conditions considered.

A combined experimental and numerical study of multidimensional viscous flows at speeds exceeding 8 km/s is reported. Experiments were performed in the X3 superorbital expansion tube with air and nitrogen test flows at a Mach number and total enthalpy of 10 and 40 MJ/kg, respectively. Laminar skin friction, heat flux and pressure measurements were obtained at regular intervals along one wall of a rectangular duct. The spatial resolution of the transducers was chosen to capture the multidimensional flow phenomena within the duct. Quasi-steady flow periods were established along the entire length of the duct in the test times offered by the expansion tube. Direct skin friction measurements were accomplished through the use of ‘in house’ acceleration compensated transducers. The successful operation of these skin friction transducers in a high performance expansion tube was demonstrated. Furthermore, the systematic uncertainty in measured shear stress was significantly reduced with the development of a new pressure calibration technique. For the conditions tested, Reynolds analogy was shown to be valid to within experimental uncertainty. The experimental data was in excellent agreement with numerical estimates. Three-dimensional numerical simulations of the diverging duct revealed that the flowfield structure in the vicinity of the corners differs from that of an unbounded corner or a constant area duct. Real gas effects other than those present in the residual nonequilibrium levels of freestream dissociation were negligible for the conditions tested. A computational study of two waverider configurations recently tested in the X3 superorbital expansion tube was conducted to assist in the interpretation of past results. The off-design aerodynamic performance was also analyzed and showed that blunting the leading edges dramatically degraded the performance by increasing drag and decreasing lift for the conditions considered.

A combined experimental and numerical study of multidimensional viscous flows at speeds exceeding 8 km/s is reported. Experiments were performed in the X3 superorbital expansion tube with air and nitrogen test flows at a Mach number and total enthalpy of 10 and 40 MJ/kg, respectively. Laminar skin friction, heat flux and pressure measurements were obtained at regular intervals along one wall of a rectangular duct. The spatial resolution of the transducers was chosen to capture the multidimensional flow phenomena within the duct. Quasi-steady flow periods were established along the entire length of the duct in the test times offered by the expansion tube. Direct skin friction measurements were accomplished through the use of ‘in house’ acceleration compensated transducers. The successful operation of these skin friction transducers in a high performance expansion tube was demonstrated. Furthermore, the systematic uncertainty in measured shear stress was significantly reduced with the development of a new pressure calibration technique. For the conditions tested, Reynolds analogy was shown to be valid to within experimental uncertainty. The experimental data was in excellent agreement with numerical estimates. Three-dimensional numerical simulations of the diverging duct revealed that the flowfield structure in the vicinity of the corners differs from that of an unbounded corner or a constant area duct. Real gas effects other than those present in the residual nonequilibrium levels of freestream dissociation were negligible for the conditions tested. A computational study of two waverider configurations recently tested in the X3 superorbital expansion tube was conducted to assist in the interpretation of past results. The off-design aerodynamic performance was also analyzed and showed that blunting the leading edges dramatically degraded the performance by increasing drag and decreasing lift for the conditions considered.