The RHYFL facility as a high performance expansion tube for scramjet testing

While current high enthalpy facilities are capable of generating the correct enthalpies associated with very high speed atmospheric flight, they are incapable of generating the large total pressures needed for full simulation. For accurate aerodynamic, heating and combustion testing in these ground-based facilities, it is desirable to increase their total pressue simulation capabilities. This paper discusses the proposed conversion of RHYFL, which was originally designed to be a shock tube, into the worlds largest expansion tube. If converted to an expansion tube, the RHYFL-X promises to produce high-quality hypersonic flows required for the accurate simulation of atmospheric scramjet flight. Preliminary simulation results are presented and compared to other large testing facilities. These results indicate that the new facility will possess the unique capability of being able to generate test flows that duplicate the free-stream conditions experienced by a scramjet during atmospheric flight.