Restricted Research - Award List, Note/Discussion Page
Fiscal Year: 2023
1545 The University of Texas at Arlington (143433)
Principal Investigator: Dr. Luca Maddalena,luca@uta.edu,(817) 272-1123
Total Amount of Contract, Award, or Gift (Annual before 2011): $ 330,978
Exceeds $250,000 (Is it flagged?): Yes
Start and End Dates: 3/1/23 - 2/29/24
Restricted Research: YES
Academic Discipline: Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering
Department, Center, School, or Institute: none
Title of Contract, Award, or Gift: DURIP Vacuum System for Envelope Expansion of the ONR-UTA Arc-Heated Plasma Wind Tunnel
Name of Granting or Contracting Agency/Entity:
Office of Naval Research (ONR)
CFDA Link: DOD
12.300
Program Title:
DURIP
CFDA Linked: Basic and Applied Scientific Research
Note:
(SAM Category 1.1.4.) The University of Texas at Arlington houses a unique combination, in the academic panorama, of experimental facilities dedicated to fundamental research with focus on relevant aspects of low-speed, high-speed, high-enthalpy flows, and high-temperature gas/surface interaction. In particular, the Aerodynamics Research Center was awarded a grant by the Office of Naval Research and the DARPA to develop, based on the previous 1.6MW Arc-Heated Wind Tunnel (AHWT) system, a national-level research facility for high-temperature materials development and characterization in support of DoD programs on ultra-high temperature materials for hypersonic technologies. The only university-operated, large-scale, arc-heated wind tunnel in the country capable of high-impact pressures and high-shear. For more than 40 years, arc-jet testing has served as primary basis for characterizing Thermal Protection Systems (TPS) in support of material development and response model validation. AHWT facilities provide the only ground-based means of simulating hypersonic heating rates (entry, re-entry, hypersonic cruise) in a reacting flow environment under flight-relevant durations. Arc-jet testing provides data for detail material response models that can reduce uncertainty and the magnitude of thickness margins. Arc-jets are also essential to investigate mechanical failure modes including erosion, spallation, and losses related to shear effects. This proposal is for critical equipment to be integral part of the ONR-UTA arc-heated plasma wind tunnel. Specifically, addition of three vacuum pumps to the wind tunnel as part of the original design to operate that facility at nominal conditions is considered in this proposal. This equipment allows for a significant extension of the arc-jet performance envelope to test larger TPS material samples at representative flight altitudes. With the proposed upgrades and expanding the operational envelop of the ONR-UTA arc-heated plasma wind tunnel, a unique platform will be in place to support the Department of Defense programs on aerothermodynamics and ultra-high temperature materials for hypersonic technologies. Participating students will be able to gain unique scientific and technical expertise in associated disciplines relevant to the DOD.
Discussion: No discussion notes