Review of hypersonic research investigations in IISc shock tunnel (HST1)

Abstract

Real gas effects dominate the hypersonic flow fields encountered by modern day hypersonic space vehicles. Measurement of aerodynamic data for the design applications of such aerospace vehicles calls for special kinds of wind tunnels capable of faithfully simulating real gas effects. A shock tunnel is an established facility commonly used along with special instrumentation for acquiring the data for this purpose within a short time period. The hypersonic shock tunnel (HST1), established at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in the early 1970s, has been extensively used to measure the aerodynamic data of various bodies of interest at hypersonic Mach numbers in the range 4 to 13. Details of some important measurements made during the period 1975–1995 along with the performance capabilities of the HST1 are presented in this review. In view of the re-emergence of interest in hypersonics across the globe in recent times, the present review highlights the suitability of the hypersonic shock tunnel at the IISc for future space application studies in India.