Experimental Study of a Scramjet Nozzle Flow using the Pressure Sensitive Paint Method

Kurzfassung

An experimental study on scramjet nozzle flows was carried out at the German Aerospace Center. The tests were performed at a free-stream Mach number of 7 in the hypersonic wind tunnel H2K in Cologne. The Reynolds number in the tunnel flow was varied in order to study the performance of the scramjet nozzle at different flight altitudes. The effects of different nozzle pressure ratios were investigated and compared. The static pressure distribution on the single expansion ramp was measured by both the Pressure-Sensitive Paint (PSP) Method and PSI pressure transducers. The PSP method enables one to gain detailed field information about the pressure distribution on the entire nozzle surface. A Pitot rake was used to measure the Pitot pressure distribution in the nozzle wake. The data obtained by the different measurement techniques permitted a characterization of the nozzle flow and gave an insight into the properties of scramjet nozzle flows.