Recent Extensions to the High Enthalpy Shock Tunnel Göttingen (HEG

Abstract

The High-Enthalpy Shock Tunnel Göttingen (HEG) of the German Aerospace Center, DLR, is one of the major European hypersonic test facilities. The HEG can generate test conditions for low altitude high density Mach 6 flows and the Mach 8 flows in approximately 30 km. Additionally Mach 10 flows in approximately 40 km altitude and high-enthalpy (23 MJ/kg) re-entry type conditions between 60 km and 70 km altitude can be generated. Since the commission in 1991 the HEG has been extensively used in numerous national and international projects. Further, the operating range of the HEG facility has constantly been extended. The major modifications include the design and calibration of contoured nozzles for uniform free stream at Mach numbers of 6, 8 and 10 and the development and validation of numerical tools for the end-to-end modelling of the facility operation. Additionally the available measurement techniques for free stream calibration and flow characterization have continuously been extended. The present paper will describe the characteristics of the different operating conditions and the general strategy used for their design and calibration. Selected examples for the calibration of the HEG conditions and ground-based testing of re-entry vehicles, Scramjet engines and hypersonic configurations will be given.