Parachute deployment experiment in transonic and supersonic wind tunnels

Abstract

Prclirninary wind tunnel tcs1.5 have bccn madc in ISAS in order to study the characteristics of the parachutcs at transonic and supersonic Mach number regions. A device has bccn madc to eject a model parachute into a wind tunnel flow and to measure the drag force acting on it. Some experimental studies on parachute deployment have been carried out by using the device set on the inside wall of transonic and supersonic wind tunnels having t g t sections of 60cm square in ISAS with the flow conditions of Mach number from 0.8 to 3.0 and Reynords numbcr from 2.2 to 2.9*107/m. Parachute models employed in this study have been made of practical parachutc materials. Thcir shapcs arc similar to conical and equiflo types. The relations between the Mach number and the drag, parachutc diameter, oscillating angle arc obtained, and thcsc comparative acrodynamic characteristics were discussed, including the effect of forebody wake. Some typical phenomena such as breathing at supersonic spccd are obscrved and their frequencies are also measured. Furthermore, some qualitative invesligation was made on thcsc breathing phenomena.