Experimental Characterisation of the CIRA Plasma Wind Tunnel SCIROCCO Test Section
- Paper number
IAC-05-C2.7.04
- Author
Mr. Carlo Purpura, CIRA Italian Aerospace Research Centre, Italy
- Coauthor
Researcher Paolo Barrera, Italy
- Coauthor
Mr. Federico De Filippis, CIRA Italian Aerospace Research Centre, Italy
- Coauthor
Engineer Davide Mandanici, Italy
- Year
2005
- Abstract
The SCIROCCO Plasma Wind Tunnel is operative at CIRA (Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali) since October 2001, and many test campaigns have already been carried out. Experiments have been developed for the verification of the proper facility operation, the calibration curves investigation necessary to properly operate the facility. The SCIROCCO wind tunnel is a prototype facility, in which the thermo-fluid-dynamic phenomenology involved are too complex for the realisation of reliable theoretical models. Moreover, SCIROCCO is the only plasma facility in the world with a jet diameter of about 2 m. The SCIROCCO facility was designed for tests on models which maximum diameter is 600 mm. For this aim, it is very important to evaluate the usable plasma jet diameter in the test section of the facility test chamber (Effective Test Section), where models are surrounded by the plasma flow during the development of a test run. To pursue such an objective, it has been possible to perform a calculation based on the experimental results obtained by means of the Validation Phase Test campaign. In fact, by means of the experimental measurements performed by the Calibration Probe and the process instrumentation localised at the nozzle exit, the arc heater column, the test chamber and the proper Rankine-Hougoniot jump relations system, it has been possible to evaluate the boundary layer thickness at the nozzle exit section in the test chamber of the facility, and the calculation of the main fluid-dynamic characteristics and their radial profiles in order to verify the flow uniformity in the effective test section. The Conical Nozzle Configurations D anf F have been used and the results compared to the CFD simulation during the Design Phase of the SCIROCCO Facility Project.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-05-C2.7.04.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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