Hy-V Program Overview and Status

Abstract

The Hy-V Program has been developed with the aim of examining test media and facility effects that are present in scramjet ground based testing. In the course of the program, a clean-air and combustion heated air database will be generated using direct-connect and freejet facilities and this database will then be compared with the results of a flight experiment. In particular, the effects of test media vitiation on dual-mode scramjet mode transition will be examined. The flight experiment will consist of a dual-mode scramjet test article that is captively carried aboard a sounding rocket. The Hy-V Program is being executed by a university, industry and government team that consists of the University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, ATK-GASL, Aerojet, AEDC, NASA, the NASA Sounding Rocket Operations Contract and other university members of the Virginia Space Grant Consortium. This team includes significant undergraduate and graduate student participation. Nonvitiated and water and carbon dioxide vitiated dual-mode scramjet combustion experiments are taking place in the University of Virginia Supersonic Combustion Facility. Based on the scramjet combustor geometry, a freejet ground test article is being designed for nonvitiated and combustion vitiated testing in the ATK GASL Leg IV facility. A flight weight test article, with the same ground test geometry and scale, will be fabricated and flown aboard the sounding rocket. Ground testing in the University of Virginia facility has started and conceptual design of the freejet ground test article and flight test article is underway.