Local Energy Matter Interactions and Materials Response in Hypersonic Environments

Executive Summary

We will develop a lab-scale, hypersonic wind tunnel and the assessment capabilities to determine local energy and matter interactions in dynamic, hypersonic flowfields, prove materials strength in experimentally simulated hypersonic environments, and produce datasets to validate computational fluid dynamics codes for the hypersonic regime. Our research will provide an understanding of materials strength and response for hypersonic flight vehicles in sustained, trans-atmospheric flights.