Testing and Characterization of the University of Tennessee High-Enthalpy Tunnel

View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2023-1456.vid The development of well-characterized, reliable and cost-effective platforms for experimental aerothermodynamic research is a key factor to advance hypersonic technology. The use of high-enthalpy tunnels capable of producing flows representative of hypersonic flight conditions is in high demand for material survivability testing, gas-surface interaction studies, high-speed combustion, non-equilibrium and radiative gasdynamics. A new Mach 6, high-enthalpy hypersonic wind tunnel has been constructed and tested at the University of Tennessee. The facility is capable of generating pulsed hypersonic flows with a duration of 500 ms and realistic stagnation enthalpy for hypersonic flight. The high-enthalpy flow is supplied by an electric arcjet-type heater with a nominal power of 500 kW. This paper provides an overview of the facility components and presents the results of the preliminary characterization of the tunnel performance using nitrogen flow. A parametric study was performed covering a wide range of mass flow rates and arc powers. The freestream stagnation enthalpy was estimated from heat flux measurements using two different probes and compared to the bulk enthalpy evaluated from mass conservation considerations across the arc-heater.