Development of low density wind tunnel to simulate atmospheric flight on Mars

M. Anyoji, H. Nagai, K. Asai

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

13 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A new type of wind tunnel that can simulate airfoil flow in the Mars atmosphere has been designed and constructed at Tohoku University. This wind tunnel is driven by ejector and designed to simulate low-density Martian atmosphere consisting of CO2. The preliminary performance tests were conducted using air to investigate the operating envelop of the tunnel. It was demonstrated that this wind tunnel could cover the Reynolds number range from 104 to 105 and the Mach number range up to 0.71, allowing us to simulate low Reynolds number and high subsonic flow on Mars airplanes. Calibration tests were also conducted to investigate the flow characteristics in the test section. It was confirmed that the flow was kept uniform in the test section even when the total pressure was 1 kPa. There were significant effects of the boundary layer development on static pressure gradient along the test section. It was found that these effects of boundary layers could be corrected by inclining both the upper and lower walls of the test section.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition
PublisherAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc.
ISBN (Print)9781563479694
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2009
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

Name47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Space and Planetary Science
  • Aerospace Engineering

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