Executive Summary
This thesis details the design, computational analysis, and experimental validation of a modular, additively manufactured Mach 5+ hypersonic wind tunnel. Fabricated from ULTEM™ 9085, the tunnel demonstrated sustained Mach 5.38 flow, proving the feasibility of low-cost, rapidly manufactured hypersonic research facilities.
Why It Matters
This research is crucial for defense analysts as it advances the capability for low-cost, rapid prototyping and testing of hypersonic technologies, directly impacting the development cycle of advanced weapon systems.
Key Takeaways
- A modular, additively manufactured Mach 5+ hypersonic wind tunnel was successfully designed, built, and validated, achieving sustained Mach 5.38 flow.
Source evidence · PDF page 8
Experimental testing demonstrated sustained Mach 5.38 flow for approximately two minutes with the flow heated to 440 K upstream of the plenum chamber. The results demonstrate the feasibility of rapidly manufactured modular hypersonic wind tunnels for low-cost experimental hypersonics research.
- The project demonstrates the feasibility of using additive manufacturing (AM) to create low-cost, rapidly reconfigurable hypersonic test facilities.
Source evidence · PDF page 25
The goal of this project was to develop an additively manufactured (AM) axisymmetric wind tunnel with a modular section that could be easily exchanged to support variable geometry configurations. This effort built upon previous research conducted at NPS to develop a modular axisymmetric tunnel concept.
- The use of ULTEM™ 9085 and modular design significantly reduces manufacturing lead times and costs for experimental hypersonics research.],
Source evidence · PDF page 30
AM was a fundamental component of this project due to its ability to rapidly produce custom wind tunnel components at a much lower cost than the existing tunnel design at NPS. Utilizing the common assembly architecture developed by Cho [13], components could be exchanged in only a few minutes, significantly reducing setup time between experiments.
Strategic Relevance
The development of low-cost, rapidly deployable hypersonic test facilities is strategically important for accelerating research and development in hypersonic weapon systems and defense against them, enabling faster iteration and validation of designs.