The von Karman Gas Dynamics Facility at

Arnold Engineering Development Complex 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). Headquartered at Arnold Air Force Base, ...

Arnold Air Force Base Arnold Air Force Base (Arnold AFB) is a United States Air Force base located in Coffee and Franklin counties, Tennessee, adjacent to the city of Tullahoma. It is named for General Henry "Hap" Arnold, the father of the U.S. Air Force. There ...

, Tennessee, provide aerothermal ground test simulations of hypersonic flight over a wide range of velocities and pressure altitudes. The facility consists of three

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 an ...

s: Tunnel A, B, and C. The wind tunnels can be run for several hours at a time thanks to a 92,500 horsepower air compressor plant system. The test unit is owned by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and operated b
National Aerospace Solutions

Tunnel A

Tunnel A is a 48-inch squared, continuous, closed-circuit, variable density, supersonic wind tunnel with a Mach number range of 1.5 to 5.5 with a maximum temperature of 290 degrees Fahrenheit. Devoted primarily to explorations of aerodynamic design, Tunnel A's unique feature is its computer controlled continuous-curvature nozzle that can vary the tunnel's Mach number.

Tunnel B

Tunnel B is a 50-inch, closed-circuit hypersonic tunnel with continuous-flow capability with a Mach number capability of 6 and 8. Provided with air heated to a maximum of 900 degrees Fahrenheit with natural gas-fired heaters. Tunnel B is also primarily explores aerodynamic design.

Tunnel C

Tunnel C is a continuous-flow tunnel with a Mach number capability of 4, 6, and 10. It offers an aerothermal environment for testing materials proposed for use on space vehicles and aircraft. The one-of-a-kind wind tunnel makes it possible to subject flight hardware to a combination aerodynamic and thermodynamic—or heating—effects up to 1,440 degrees Fahrenheit so engineers can study how aerospace vehicles and material response to the combined effects of external heating, internal heat conduction and pressure loading.

References

External links

Arnold Engineering Development Center
(official)
VKF Fact Sheet
{{coord missing, Tennessee Wind tunnels Research installations of the United States Air Force Military in Tennessee