Newly Developed Direct-Connect High-Enthalpy Supersonic Combustion Research Facility

A new continuous-flow, direct-connect, high-enthalpy, supersonic combustion research facility is described. This test facility provides combustor inlet flow conditions corresponding to flight Mach numbers between 3.5 and 7, at dynamic pressures up to 95.8 kPa. Most of the major components of the new facility are water cooled (including the vitiated heater, the instrumentation and transition sections, and the facility nozzle and isolators). The current exception is the variable-geometry heat-sink combustor. A variety of conventional and advanced instrumentation, including a steam calorimeter and a thrust stand, exists for accurate documentation of combustor inlet and exit conditions and performance parameters. In a recent calibration effort, pitot pressure surveys, total temperature surveys, and wall static pressure distributions were obtained for a wide range of inlet conditions using Mach 1.8 and 2.2 facility nozzles. In addition, three-dimensional numerical simulations of each test case were completed.