Abstract
The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory/U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research has sponsored the Boundary Layer Transition (BOLT) experiment to investigate hypersonic boundary-layer transition on a low-curvature, concave surface with swept leading edges. This paper provides a review of aerothermodynamic ground-test contributions by NASA Langley Research Center to the design of the BOLT flight experiment. Several test entries into the NASA Langley Aerothermodynamics Laboratory 20 Inch Mach 6 Air Tunnel are discussed. Global surface heating distributions on subscale BOLT models were measured using either phosphor thermography or infrared thermography at a range of model attitudes and freestream Reynolds numbers. An initial test entry provided the first experimental measurements of transition on the BOLT geometry. A second test entry investigated the effects of distributed surface roughness along the swept leading edges. A third test entry provided an evaluation of the aeroheating environment on the aerodynamic fairings and a portion of the flight vehicle downstream of the BOLT experiment. These entries were intended to support the development and design of flight hardware and instrumentation for the BOLT flight experiment.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have