Industry Related News: United States – November, 2020:
The engineering team at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Sciences has been continuing their work on one of the longest running hypersonic flight thermal testing and research programs in the world. The team works in materials science, developing compounds that can be either highly heat resistant or effective in heat displacement. They have decades of experience working on military grade projects like heat shields and coatings to improve flight capability and long term stability in extreme temperatures and conditions.
For space travel and attempted hypersonic travel within our atmosphere, it’s crucial to have a truly dependable vessel that has been tested countless times. During travel, an aircraft experiences shock waves, pressure changes, and temperatures ranging up to quadruple digit degrees Fahrenheit. If the construction of the craft doesn’t have proper levels of heat resistance and displacement, the structural integrity will be compromised. Even the slightest possibility of such failure is unacceptable when entertaining the idea of a future commercial application to hypersonic flight. It’s difficult to test compounds in the extreme conditions, but it’s not impossible thanks to the team at UVA.
In order to test these materials, or any material at extreme temperatures and propulsion similar to the effects of hypersonic flight, they utilize the University’s one-of-a-kind Supersonic Combustion Facility for hypersonic flight thermal testing. UVA Today described the facility and its tunnel as such: “While most hypersonic wind tunnels can only operate for a few seconds or minutes at high speed, UVA Engineering’s Mach 5 wind tunnel can operate indefinitely, allowing for real-world comparison testing of fuels, materials and components over time at hypersonic speed. This unique wind tunnel is electrically heated, which means the test air is not contaminated with the products of combustion that are often present in combustion-heated wind tunnels like a larger one found down the interstate at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton. UVA’s wind tunnel is the only one of its kind in the world.” The team recognizes the importance of clean, reliable, uniform thermal testing conditions for high risk projects such as hypersonic travel.
In the chamber, a high powered laser is aimed through a quarter sized hole, sending clean superheated air through the tunnel into the material testing chamber. They have installed a special exhaust system to direct and displace the 3,000-degree heated air, sending it out of the chamber safely without combustion debris or major pollutants. This allows them to perform multiple extended hypersonic resistance and temperature tests to simulate travel conditions for more than just a few minutes. Their facility is truly the gold standard for hypersonic thermal testing.
Whether you’re testing a material for an aircraft or small commercial electronics, it’s crucial that you have access to a proper flight thermal testing chamber. Khoury Industries offers useful solutions such as the ELI-1000 Thermal Test Chamber or the Khoury Box microwave thermal testing unit. Experience accurate and reliable thermal testing today!
UVA Today, “The Need for Speed: UVA Engineering Boosts Hypersonic Travel “ news.virginia.edu, November 2020, Accessed 30 November 2020.
ABOUT KHOURY INDUSTRIES
Khoury Industries is a worldwide leader in temperature testing equipment for device characterization, thermal cycling equipment, and failure analysis. Khoury Industries designs and manufactures custom thermal testing chambers and microwave thermal testing fixtures used in a variety of industries including: military, space, automotive, medical, research, and communication fields. The Khoury Box and the patented ELI-1000 have quickly become industry favorites as thermal testing devices used to ensure the reliability of industrial and electronic products through prolonged exposure to extreme conditions.
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Penny Aicardi
Khoury Industries
5 Mechanic Street
Bellingham, MA 02019
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