Air-Breathing Missile Thrust Measurement

Innovative approaches to make direct measurements of thrust/drag forces on scramjet inlets will be designed, constructed, and demonstrated in this Phase I program for use in hypersonic shock tunnel facilities. Two force measurements will be made. The first is a local skin friction measurement, that in conjunction with CFD, can help predict integrated drag values. Skin friction gages will be modified/calibrated for use in the shock tunnel and will provide validation of the correlation used to obtain skin friction from a Reynolds analogy formulation, still needed for high resolution since numerous heat transfer gages can be implemented but only several skin friction gages. Innovative surface interpolation techniques will be utilized in integrating the forces. The second technique is a global force measurement that provides net model thrust and which will be configured to work with the ASET vehicle geometry. On-board recording devices are required here to isolate the test model. Substantive CFD support for experimental planning and for proof of concept validation is a key component of this proposed effort.