�鶹��madou Hypersonics | �鶹��madou Canberra

Five times faster than the speed of sound

In aerodynamics, hypersonic speed greatly exceeds the speed of sound. On the ground, sound waves travel at around 340 metres per second. Any faster than this is supersonic, and five or more times faster is hypersonic. Unlike supersonic flow, with a hypersonic flow there is no sound barrier that is broken. As a vehicle moves faster and faster, the heat transfer of the flow starts to become important as the kinetic energy of the object converts to heat in the surrounding gases.

In the natural world, objects such as meteors and asteroids move through the Earth’s atmosphere hypersonically. Space shuttles and other space vehicles that we send to other planets, like the Mars Pathfinder-type probes, are man-made hypersonic vehicles. There have also been attempts to build aircraft that fly at hypersonic speeds here on Earth.

Associated schools, institutes & centres

Research themes

Impact

Hypersonic and high-speed flow research at �鶹��madou Canberra investigates the gas dynamics of chemically reacting and real-gas flows. These inform the design of the hypersonic propulsion systems and planetary entry systems required to achieve practical hypersonic flight for high-speed aircraft. This is achieved by solving fundamental problems in aerothermodynamics, including the effects of chemical reactions and real-gas effects on laminar and turbulent flows of gas mixtures.

These processes include separated flows, leading-edge bluntness effects, surface temperature effects, wake flows, and fluid-thermal-structural interactions. We investigate these processes using a combination of experimental, mathematical analysis, and numerical simulation.

Hosting a database of our own high-speed FSI unit cases and those of the international community.

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The first demonstration of laser ignition as a means of enhancing the supersonic combustion of hydrogen.
Developing instrumented free-flight models for developing hypersonic control parameter databases for generic flight configurations.
Developing resonantly enhanced shearing interferometry (RESI), a flow visualisation technique for low-density flows that increases sensitivity to density gradients by more than 100 times.
First measurements of 2D two-component velocity distributions in hypersonic separated flows using a non-intrusive technique, resulting in advances in analytical modelling of these flows.
Developing new non-intrusive technologies for measuring fundamental quantities such as diffusion coefficient and viscosity at rarefied conditions, where such measurements have previously proved too difficult to perform.
The world’s fastest scanning absorption-based temperature measurements, capable of 1.6 million spectra per second.
�鶹��madou Canberra Young Women in Engineering (YoWIE) program
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School outreach activities

Various individual outreach activities in local schools

Competitive advantage

We invested several decades to understanding the application of advanced laser-based diagnostic techniques to hypersonic flow measurements.

World-Class Hypersonic Testing Facility

Our facility, equipped with advanced non-intrusive measurement and visualisation techniques for simulating high-speed flight, is one of the best characterised hypersonic facilities globally.

Supersonic Wind Tunnel & Shock Tube

Our facilities include a supersonic wind tunnel for Mach 2-3 flows, a rectangular shock tube, and high-speed cameras (up to 10 million frames per second) with various visualisation systems.

Hot Wall Model Testing Capabilities

We are capable of testing models with hot walls, to more realistically simulate real gas conditions of hypersonic entry and flight scenarios.

Supersonic Ignition & Combustion Expertise

Our combination of hypersonic and diagnostic expertise makes us a leading research group in the area of supersonic ignition and combustion processes.

Advanced Thermal-Structural Design and Simulation

We have long-standing expertise in the design, simulation, and measurement of the thermal-structural behaviour of high-speed vehicles and propulsion systems.

Unique Dynamic Testing for Hypersonic Flight

We have capabilities for dynamic hypersonic flight testing, including fluid-thermal-structural interactions, tunnel-based free flight testing, and control approach testing like fluidics.

Our facilities

We have a suite of world-class facilities to aid our discovery and research impact in both supersonics and hypersonics.

Supersonic Wind Tunnel and Shock Tube Laboratory

The Supersonic Wind Tunnel and Shock Tube Laboratory houses a Mach 2 to 3 blowdown supersonic tunnel and two shock tube facilities for steady and non-steady high-speed flow experiments. All three facilities are used for the investigation of steady and non-steady high-speed flows.

T-ADFA free-piston shock tunnel

The T-ADFA facility is an Australian-developed experimental device capable of generating flows with up to 12 times the speed of sound at temperatures that can simulate Earth entry conditions and hypersonic air-breathing flight.

Two-stage light gas gun

The two-stage light gas gun is one of �鶹��madou Canberra's flagship pieces of equipment. It's versatile and boasts three different firing configurations to suit the needs of most high-velocity impact experiment.

Partners

Over the lifetime of the group, we have collaborated with many university and industry partners. Our research has received continued support from the , the and the over many years.

Current and recent collaboration partners on funded projects include:

Our publications

View our range of publications which aim to improve capabilities and advance the fundamental science in hypersonic and high-speed flow research.

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Study with us

We offer courses in both hypersonic and gas-turbine engine theory at the undergraduate level, as well as a course in instrumentation. For further information please visit the links below or contact Andrew Neely.

ZEIT4013

ZEIT4013 is a 6 Unit of Credit elective course that introduces students to the fundamental physical problems of hypersonic flight and hypersonic testing, as well as touching on the scientific, tactical, strategic, political, and societal aspects of hypersonic technologies.

ZEIT4013

ZEIT3507

Thermodynamic analysis is used to examine a range of power cycles including internal combustion engines and gas turbines. Different levels of analysis will be used including air-standard and cold-air-standard.

ZEIT3507