Development of a Mars Entry Condition at Flight Duplicated Enthalpy and Reynolds Number in the X2 Expansion Tube

Ranjini. Ramesh , Richard G. Morgan , Christopher M. James , David J. Mee

DOI Number XXX-YYY-ZZZ

Conference Number HiSST 2018-906

To support the development of thermal protection systems for future missions to Mars, obtaining turbulent heat transfer data using ground test facilities is crucial. This paper reports on the development of a high enthalpy, high Reynolds number turbulent flow condition for a representative Mars entry in the X2 expansion tube at the University of Queensland. The aim is to use the established flow condition to measure turbulent heat flux at Mars entry conditions using infrared thermography. A point in the trajectory of Mars Science Laboratory after transition to turbulence has been chosen for experimental investigation using the X2 expansion tube. The total enthalpy and post shock Reynolds number from experiments were tailored to match the corresponding flight values, addressing one of the key challenges in producing test conditions in a ground test facility to measure turbulent heating. The current study details the theoretical and experimental work that was undertaken to design and establish a test condition at flight duplicated enthalpy and post shock Reynolds number. It is expected that the work presented in this paper will provide a framework for designing and establishing test conditions that lie outside the typical operating range of X2 in the future.

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2018, expansion tube, flight duplicated enthalpy, ground testing, HiSST 2018, Mars entry, Reynolds number

In Categories: High-Speed Missions and Vehicles, HiSST 2018, Hypersonic Aerodynamics, Manned Spaceflight Dynamics, Space Flight Mechanics

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