AEDC
The Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC), Arnold Engineering Development Center before July 2012, is an Air Force Materiel Command facility under the control of the Air Force Test Center (AFTC). Named for Henry H. Arnold, General Hen ...
Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9 is a
hypersonic wind tunnel
A hypersonic wind tunnel is designed to generate a hypersonic flow field in the working section, thus simulating the typical flow features of this flow regime - including compression shocks and pronounced boundary layer effects, entropy layer and ...
owned by the
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
and operated b
National Aerospace Solutions The facility can generate high Mach numbers and high Reynolds for hypersonic ground testing and the validation of computational simulations for the Air Force and Department of Defense.
History
After World War II, the United States
brought German scientists and several critical facilities built by
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
to continue research into supersonic missiles. In July 1945, the custody of the Kochel wind tunnel facilities was awarded to the Navy to be installed at the
Naval Ordnance Laboratory
The Naval Ordnance Laboratory (NOL) was a facility in the White Oak, Maryland, White Oak area of Montgomery County, Maryland. The location is now used as the headquarters of the Food and Drug Administration, U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Or ...
at
White Oak, Maryland
White Oak is a census-designated place and unincorporated area in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. It had a population of 16,347 in 2020.
White Oak was known for its Naval Ordnance Laboratory, which was closed in 1994. The headquart ...
. In 1967, Congress granted approval for the construction of Tunnel 9. The facility became operational in 1976 and has since been providing aerodynamic simulation in critical altitude regimes associated with strategic offensive missile systems, advanced defensive interceptor systems, and hypersonic vehicle technologies.
Capabilities
Tunnel 9 has 2.9 to 5 ft diameter test section. The facility can generate air flow up to Mach 14 with Reynolds numbers between 4 - 7.6 million per ft. Pressure and temperature can be controlled to simulate flight altitudes from sea level to 173,000 ft.
See also
*
Wind tunnel
A wind tunnel is "an apparatus for producing a controlled stream of air for conducting aerodynamic experiments". The experiment is conducted in the test section of the wind tunnel and a complete tunnel configuration includes air ducting to and f ...
*
Shock tube
: ''For the pyrotechnic initiator, see Shock tube detonator''
A shock tube is an instrument used to replicate and direct blast waves at a sensor or model in order to simulate explosions and their effects, usually on a smaller scale. Shock tube ...
*
Ludwieg tube
A Ludwieg tube is a cheap and efficient way of producing supersonic flow. Mach numbers up to 4 in air are easily obtained without any additional heating of the flow. With heating, Mach numbers of up to 11 can be reached.
Principle
A Ludwieg tube i ...
References
External links
Arnold Engineering Development Center(official)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel 9
Buildings and structures in Montgomery County, Maryland
Wind tunnels
Equipment of the United States Air Force