Development of shock tube for ground testing reentry aerothermodynamics

Abstract

A free-piston double-diaphragm shock tube with 70 × 70mm cross-section at test section is newly developed to investigate thermo chemical non equilibrium phenomena behind a shock wave. This paper presents the performance of the shock tube and the measurement system newly developed. Experimental investigations to clarify its characteristics are conducted for various operational parameters, such as rupture pressure of the first diaphragm and initial pressures in the low-pressure tube, the high-pressure tube, and the compression tube. Based on the characteristics experiment, a performance map of the shock tube is obtained by changing the operation parameters. The result shows that the shock tube can generate the post-shock condition corresponding to super-orbital reentry flight conditions. The newly developed measurement system enables us to obtain a spatial distribution of spectra behind a shock wave with high spatial and time resolution. A description of the measurement system and typical examples of the measured spectra are presented. © 2011 The Japan Society for Aeronautical and Space Sciences.