Facilities

The Hypersonic Shock Tunnel at UH is a reflected-type of shock tunnel reproducing Mach 5.2 hypersonic flow. The shock tunnel of 15m long consists of a driver tank, a driven tube, a free-jet type of Mach 5.2 contoured nozzle, a section (0.5m width x 0.6m height x 0.7m length), and a vacuum chamber. Air pressure for the driver/driven gases is controllable from 4×10^-2 Pa to 4.0 MPa by a booster equipped pump and compressors. By changing the driver gas, a low/high enthalpy gas flows are realized. The test section allows an optical access for visualization and wiring of transducers.

The shock tube facility with a rectangular cross-section employs a diaphragm-less operation system. The shock tube of 7.0m long consists of a driver tank, a driven tube with glass windows installed test section. Air pressure for the driver/driven gases is controllable in a range from 4×10^-2 Pa to 1.0 MPa by a booster equipped pump and compressor.

TSP/PSP optics are fully available in the laboratory at UH. A temperature/pressure controllable calibration system, a fume hood system, other optics relating to TSP/PSP are equipped. Additionally, an optics for a schlieren system with a high speed camera and several light sources and a data acquisition system are all together with tunnel facilities.