• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2008.03b
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• pp.197-200
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• 2008

The existing computer code to solve the air flow in a segmented constrictor-type arc-heated wind tunnel named ARCFLO4 is improved to accept an air-argon mixture as the working gas and to consider the separated injection of air and argon. The new version of the code is used to calculate the flows in the Aerodynamic Heating Facility of NASA Ames Research Center where argon concentration is relatively high. The calculation shows that argon tends to increase the diameter of the arc-column, increase ionization fraction, decrease thermal efficiency of the arc-heater, and push the ratio of the centerline-to-average enthalpy toward unity. The calculated operating characteristics of the arc-heater agree well with the experimental data.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.41 no.9
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• pp.700-707
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• 2013

Experimental analyses on a supersonic plasma wind tunnel of CBNU (Chonbuk National University) were carried out. In these experiments, a segmented arc heater was employed as a plasma source and operated at the gas flow rates of 16.3 g/s and the total currents of 300 A. The input power reached ~350 kW with the torch efficiency of 51.4 %, which is defined as the ratio of total exit enthalpy to the input power. The pressure of plasma gas in the arc heater was measured up to 4 bar while it was down to ~45 mbar in a vacuum chamber through a Laval nozzle. During this conversion process, the generated supersonic plasma was expected to have a total enthalpy of ~11 MJ/kg from the measured input power and torch efficiency. In addition to the measurement of total enthalpy, a cone type probe was inserted into the supersonic plasma flow in order to estimate the angle between shock layer and surface of the probe. From these measurements, the temperature and the Mach number of the supersonic plasma were predicted as ~2,950 K and ~3.7, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2016.02a
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• pp.200.2-200.2
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• 2016

Carbon-based materials have been known as ablative material and have been used for thermal protection systems. Ablation is an erosive phenomenon that results in thermochemical and thermomechanical changes on materials. Ablation resistance is one of the key properties that determines performance and life-time of the thermal protection material under ablative conditions. In this study, ablation properties of graphite, 3-dimensional (C/C) composites (needle-punched type and rod type) were investigated byusing a plasma wind tunnel which produce a supersonic plasma flow from a segmented arc heater with the power level of 0.4 MW. The mass losses and surface roughness changes which contain main result of the ablation are measured. A morphological analysis ofthe carbon-based materials, before and after the ablation test, are performed through field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and non-contact 3D surface measuring system. Electronic balance and a portable surface roughness tester were used for evaluation of the recession and mass loss of the test samples.