Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit
| image= APTU-FaCET.jpg
| image_size = 300
|caption= FaCET Test in the APTU
|country= United States
|branch= US Air Force
|role= Test Facility
|nickname= APTU}}
AEDC Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit (APTU) is a blowdown hypersonic wind tunnel driven by a combustion air heater (CAH).{{cite web|url=https://www.arnold.af.mil/News/story/id/123160209/ |title=AEDC reaches major milestone with hypersonic engine testing |access-date=2012-01-10 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100731022104/http://www.arnold.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123160209 |archive-date=2010-07-31 }} The facility is owned by the United States Air Force and operated by Aerospace Testing Alliance.
History
The AEDC Aerodynamic and Propulsion Test Unit started out as a vitiated air heater (VAH) conducting over 275 experiments for the development of many different aerodynamic and aerothermal systems. Upgrades to the facility started in 2002 in order to provide ground-test capability for supersonic and hypersonic systems up to flight speeds of Mach 8.{{Citation needed|date=January 2013}}
Capabilities
The facility was designed to provide ground-based simulations of supersonic and hypersonic flight conditions. The combustion air heater can provide total pressures from 200 psia to 2,800 psia (13.6 atm to 190.5 atm) and a total temperatures from 1,200°R to 4,700°R (667 K to 2,611 K). Five nozzles ranging from Mach 3.2 to Mach 7.1 are currently available.{{cite web|url=http://www.arnold.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080625-010.pdf |title=Archived copy |accessdate=2012-01-10 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226032848/http://www.arnold.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-080625-010.pdf |archivedate=2011-12-26 }}
See also
References
External links
- [https://www.arnold.af.mil/ Arnold Engineering Development Center] (official)
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