Thermal Evaluation of the Initial Concept 3.X Vehicle at Mach 7

Abinayaa Dhanagopal, Nathan S. Strasser, Angelina Andrade, Kevin R. Posladek, Eugene N. A. Hoffman and Christopher S. Combs ()
Additional contact information
Abinayaa Dhanagopal: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
Nathan S. Strasser: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
Angelina Andrade: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
Kevin R. Posladek: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
Eugene N. A. Hoffman: Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX 78238, USA
Christopher S. Combs: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 12, 1-23

Abstract: High-speed global surface temperature distributions and heat flux measurements on the Initial Concept 3.X vehicle (IC3X) model were investigated at the UTSA Mach 7 wind tunnel, examining angles of attack of 0° and 5° at a freestream unit Reynolds number (Re) ~7 × 10 6 m −1 . A ruthenium-based, fast-responding, temperature-sensitive paint (fast-TSP) prepared in-house was applied to a 7.1% scale model of the vehicle. Static calibration was performed to convert the intensity measurements into surface temperature values. The surface temperatures and derived heat flux fields conformed to the predicted trends, which was corroborated by Schlieren flow visualization. Notably, the average surface temperature variation was identified to range from 6 to 34 K at a 0° angle of attack and from 11 to 44 K at a 5° angle of attack, with the most pronounced gradient detected at the stagnation point. Additional measurements provided a detailed thermal assessment of the model, including estimations of the stagnation point heat flux, the convective heat transfer coefficient, and the modified Stanton number. Statistical and time series analyses of the data collected revealed the absence of prevailing unsteady phenomena, suggesting that the tested design geometry is well suited for hypersonic flight applications. These experimental outcomes not only shed light on the aerothermodynamics experienced during high-speed flight but also underscore the effectiveness of fast-TSP in capturing both quantitative and qualitative thermal data.

Keywords: temperature-sensitive paint (TSP); luminescent intensity; heat transfer; temperature sensitivity; angle of attack; Ludwieg tube; hypersonic (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/12/2916/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/12/2916/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:12:p:2916-:d:1414222

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().