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4 - Free-Piston-Driven High-Enthalpy Shock Tunnels

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 October 2023

Zonglin Jiang  and
Randy S. M. Chue
Zonglin Jiang
Affiliation:
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing
Randy S. M. Chue
Affiliation:
Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
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Summary

The free-piston driver is a powerful technique to increase both the driver gas sound speed and pressure. Therefore, it is capable of generating high-enthalpy flows and offering high performance among various gasdynamic shock drivers. So far, it has been implemented in a number of major reflected-shock as well as shock-expansion wind tunnels around the world. The free-piston driver has the advantage that a high driver gas pressure is automatically generated in the same process. On the other hand, the driver is far more complex mechanically and requires operation-tuning in order to operate effectively. Moreover, its test time is short and the test flow is not steady because the piston motion is difficult to control. In this chapter, the basic concepts of the free-piston driver are discussed. The analytical theory that describes the piston dynamics and the method for tuned piston operation are presented. Examples of major free-piston-driven test facilities as well as their applications in hypersonic testing are also summarized.

Keywords

free-piston driverhigh-enthalpy flowdriver pressurepiston dynamicscompression tubepiston stopper
Type
Chapter
Information
Theories and Technologies of Hypervelocity Shock Tunnels , pp. 73 - 118
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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