140:
can give local total enthalpies roughly twice the bulk average level. Facility operations have demonstrated mass flow rates from 0.07–0.18 kg/s. The corresponding maximum run duration is 90–200 s. The maximum operating pressure for the arc heater is 20 atmospheres. A compressed air driven ejector pump provides vacuum conditions in the test section vessel during test runs. The ejector pump has produced test section pressures as low as 4.5 kPa (0.65 psia) without the arc heater running. A mechanical vacuum pump is available to provide a high initial vacuum in the facility's 4.25 cubic meter vacuum tank. The vacuum capability of the facility enables the use of high expansion ratio nozzles with the arc heater. A programmable, 3-axis traverse system allows probe surveys to be performed within a space of 20 cm (8 in) wide, 23 cm (9 in) long and 30 cm (12 in) deep (8 x 9 x 12 inches). This system can be used to mount models or test articles as well.
63:
years of storage and hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost grants. The solution to this problem was the construction of a temporary facility on the first floor of a newly built engineering building. This facility happened to be located underneath the office of the Dean of the
College of Engineering, who promptly changed the temporary facility to a permanent building upon hearing how loud the Luwieg tube was. Once the concept of a permanent building was proposed, several new wind tunnels and equipment were added. In 1985, a large compressor located at
59:
Development
Program, but the decision had recently been made to build the NTF at the NASA Langley Research Center using their cryogenic tunnel concept. The professors jokingly told the AEDC project manager to consider donating the tube to UTA, which was taken as a serious offer. The Ludwieg tube was declared government surplus and donated to UTA, showing up at the rail head in Arlington, Texas on three flat bed cars.
136:
electric arc to produce a gas stream with bulk temperatures ranging from 3000 to 5000 K. The facility is based on a
Thermal Dynamics F-5000 arc heater, donated from the USAF Arnold Engineering Development Center. Additionally, the facility also consists of systems for nitrogen injection, water cooling, creating a vacuum and a transversing probe as well as facility monitoring and protection.
50:
Department of
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) should have a high speed wind tunnel capability. An arc heater was shipped to UTA but was put in storage because of a lack of funds to acquire the support equipment necessary for its operation. In 1976, two professors visited both the AEDC and NASA's
126:
The hypersonic shock tunnel is another impulse facility with a run time of 0.5 to 5.0 ms. The tunnel has a test section of 0.44 meters (diameter) by a length of 1 meter. The inviscid core is 0.17 m at Mach 8. It is capable of testing at Mach numbers from 5 to 16 and
Reynolds numbers from 100 to 20
67:
became available and was donated to UTA. This 5-stage Clark compressor was rated at 3000 psi, 2000 cfm, and was driven by a 1250 hp motor. The total power consumption during full load operation is over 1.6 MW. Moving the compressor to a new building with its associated equipment cost nearly $
58:
facilities. The idea was the build a smaller version of the wind tunnel at UTA, but when the AEDC facility was toured it was found that its
Ludwieg tube had recently been decommissioned. The Ludwieg tube had been developed as a prototype for the Air Force concept for the National Transonic Facility
139:
The bulk total enthalpy output ranges from 4000 to 5800 kJ/kg, which is controlled by adjustments in the power supply output of current and the rate that gas is injected into the arc heater. The arc heater can be configured to produce a very peaked enthalpy distribution across the nozzle exit, which
62:
Possession of the
Ludwieg tube facility attracted lucrative grants, which became a logistical problem because UTA was then involved in a major building program that included the renovation of an engineering building that the tunnel was scheduled to go into. This would have meant a period of several
117:
is a blowdown type tunnel equipped with a variable Mach number nozzle. The wind tunnel was developed in-house except for the donation of a nozzle by LTV (presently
Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control). The current achievable Mach number range is 1.5 to 4.0 with Reynolds numbers between 60 and
84:
The low-speed wind tunnel is a closed-circuit, continuous flow tunnel with a 100 hp, variable frequency drive. The test section measures 0.6 by 0.9 meters and is capable of flow velocities up to 50 m/s. It is equipped with 3 and 6 component force balances and a PC-based multiplexed data
49:
The development of the ARC began in 1975 as an effort to develop a shock tube for experimental research in magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) power generation. At the same time, the engineering accreditation board recommended that the
Aerospace Engineering Department (which has since merged back into the
135:
The key component of the arc heated wind tunnel is a 2 MW DC electric arc heater. The test section is 10.3 cm (4 in) with a 91.4 cm (36 in) length. It is used to produce supersonic streams of extremely hot gas. The gas flowing through the arc heater is heated by a powerful
104:
range is 0.5–1.2 and the
Reynolds number range is 4–40 million/meter. The extremely high Reynolds number capability enables full-scale simulation of rotor aerodynamics. The tunnel has a low level of turbulence, with free stream pressure fluctuations of only 1 percent rms. It possesses a 5
127:
million per meter. The tunnel can be modified to accommodate a detonation driver using a mixture of hydrogen, oxygen and helium. This was completed in 1991, and led to a $ 1,000,000 grant to form the NASA/UTA Center for Hypersonic Research between 1993 and 1998.
32:
and equipment in the facility were mainly built by scouting for and upgrading decommissioned equipment from the government and industry. Currently, Masters and Ph.D. students perform research in the fields of high-speed gas dynamics, propulsion (including
27:
to transform the university into a full-fledged research institution. It showcases the aerodynamics research activities at UTA and, in its history, has established itself as a unique facility at a university level. The
535:
530:
525:
19:(ARC) is a facility located in the southeast portion of the campus operated under the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. It was established in 1986 as part of an expansion of UTA's
310:
540:
458:
364:
185:
20:
453:
353:
100:
Ludwieg tube wind tunnel has a porous wall test section that measures 19.5 by 23.2 cm (9 in). It is an impulse facility with a run time of about 120 ms. The
85:
acquisition system. Smoke visualization is also available. An auxiliary high pressure air supply enables the tunnel to be used for jet and surface blowing studies.
556:
520:
68:
500,000.00. The entire building was built around the compressor in 1986, and continued development has occurred since that time which includes the construction of
303:
118:
140 million per meter. The test section cross section area is 6 by 6.5 inches. The maximum upstream storage tank volume is 24.5 cubic meters at 700 psig.
445:
418:
413:
619:
296:
426:
319:
180:
434:
408:
51:
38:
24:
64:
572:
175:
34:
395:
114:
484:
479:
504:
494:
474:
334:
94:
489:
288:
274:
The University of Texas at Arlington Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
170:
613:
578:
165:
55:
261:
190:
101:
29:
209:
499:
283:
229:
73:
69:
584:
97:
279:
The University of Texas at Arlington Aerodynamics Research Center website
256:
268:
17:
The University of Texas at Arlington Aerodynamics Research Center
292:
269:
The University of Texas at Arlington College of Engineering
273:
155:
Donald R. Wilson, Ph.D., P.E. – former director, 1986–1993
186:
University of Texas at Arlington College of Engineering
89:
High Reynolds Number Transonic Ludwieg Tube Wind Tunnel
354:
College of Architecture, Planning & Public Affairs
251:
278:
23:. The ARC contributes to the vision of UTA and the
565:
549:
513:
467:
394:
343:
284:25 Hz pulsed detonation engine ground test (video)
54:in Huntsville, Alabama, to view their transonic
41:among other projects related to aerodynamics.
304:
8:
372:College of Nursing & Health Innovation
311:
297:
289:
152:Frank K. Lu, Ph.D., P.E. – former director
201:
7:
321:The University of Texas at Arlington
252:The University of Texas at Arlington
14:
620:University of Texas at Arlington
181:University of Texas at Arlington
149:Luca Maddalena, Ph.D. – director
80:Low-Speed Wind Tunnel Laboratory
1:
459:Women's wheelchair basketball
52:Marshall Space Flight Center
39:Computational fluid dynamics
454:Men's wheelchair basketball
381:Division of Student Success
636:
557:Notable alumni and faculty
25:University of Texas System
593:
328:
65:NASA Ames Research Center
210:"Supersonic Wind Tunnel"
35:Pulse detonation engines
541:Rebel theme controversy
369:College of Liberal Arts
176:Pulse detonation engine
122:Hypersonic Shock Tunnel
365:College of Engineering
115:supersonic wind tunnel
109:Supersonic Wind Tunnel
21:College of Engineering
378:School of Social Work
351:Colleges and schools:
361:College of Education
485:College Park Center
480:Clay Gould Ballpark
358:College of Business
257:University Overview
105:component balance.
419:Women's basketball
375:College of Science
262:University History
607:
606:
573:Maverick Speakers
505:UTA Tennis Center
442:Track & field
131:Arc Heated Tunnel
627:
495:Maverick Stadium
475:Allan Saxe Field
451:Adaptive sports:
414:Men's basketball
398:
337:
336:Arlington, Texas
322:
313:
306:
299:
290:
240:
239:
237:
236:
226:
220:
219:
217:
216:
206:
635:
634:
630:
629:
628:
626:
625:
624:
610:
609:
608:
603:
589:
561:
545:
509:
463:
396:
390:
384:Graduate School
339:
335:
324:
320:
317:
248:
243:
234:
232:
228:
227:
223:
214:
212:
208:
207:
203:
199:
162:
146:
133:
124:
111:
95:Reynolds number
91:
82:
47:
12:
11:
5:
633:
631:
623:
622:
612:
611:
605:
604:
602:
601:
594:
591:
590:
588:
587:
582:
575:
569:
567:
563:
562:
560:
559:
553:
551:
547:
546:
544:
543:
538:
533:
528:
523:
517:
515:
511:
510:
508:
507:
502:
497:
492:
490:Nedderman Hall
487:
482:
477:
471:
469:
465:
464:
462:
461:
456:
448:
443:
440:
437:
432:
429:
424:
421:
416:
411:
402:
400:
392:
391:
389:
388:
387:Honors College
385:
382:
379:
376:
373:
370:
367:
362:
359:
356:
347:
345:
341:
340:
329:
326:
325:
318:
316:
315:
308:
301:
293:
287:
286:
281:
276:
271:
266:
265:
264:
259:
247:
246:External links
244:
242:
241:
221:
200:
198:
195:
194:
193:
188:
183:
178:
173:
171:Nedderman Hall
168:
161:
158:
157:
156:
153:
150:
145:
142:
132:
129:
123:
120:
110:
107:
90:
87:
81:
78:
46:
43:
13:
10:
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
632:
621:
618:
617:
615:
599:
596:
595:
592:
586:
583:
581:
580:
579:The Shorthorn
576:
574:
571:
570:
568:
564:
558:
555:
554:
552:
548:
542:
539:
537:
534:
532:
529:
527:
524:
522:
519:
518:
516:
512:
506:
503:
501:
498:
496:
493:
491:
488:
486:
483:
481:
478:
476:
473:
472:
470:
466:
460:
457:
455:
452:
449:
447:
444:
441:
438:
436:
433:
430:
428:
425:
423:Cross country
422:
420:
417:
415:
412:
410:
407:
404:
403:
401:
399:
393:
386:
383:
380:
377:
374:
371:
368:
366:
363:
360:
357:
355:
352:
349:
348:
346:
342:
338:
332:
327:
323:
314:
309:
307:
302:
300:
295:
294:
291:
285:
282:
280:
277:
275:
272:
270:
267:
263:
260:
258:
255:
254:
253:
250:
249:
245:
231:
225:
222:
211:
205:
202:
196:
192:
189:
187:
184:
182:
179:
177:
174:
172:
169:
167:
164:
163:
159:
154:
151:
148:
147:
143:
141:
137:
130:
128:
121:
119:
116:
108:
106:
103:
99:
96:
88:
86:
79:
77:
75:
71:
66:
60:
57:
53:
44:
42:
40:
36:
31:
26:
22:
18:
597:
577:
566:Student life
536:1965–present
450:
405:
350:
330:
233:. Retrieved
230:"Arc-Heater"
224:
213:. Retrieved
204:
166:Aerodynamics
138:
134:
125:
112:
92:
83:
76:facilities.
61:
56:Ludwieg tube
48:
30:wind tunnels
16:
15:
191:Wind tunnel
102:Mach number
500:Texas Hall
446:Volleyball
331:Located in
235:2007-08-13
215:2007-08-13
197:References
74:hypersonic
70:supersonic
585:UTA Radio
531:1917–1965
526:1895–1917
397:Athletics
344:Academics
98:transonic
93:The high
614:Category
521:Overview
435:Softball
427:Football
409:Baseball
160:See also
598:Founded
514:History
406:Sports:
144:Faculty
45:History
37:), and
600:: 1895
550:People
468:Campus
439:Tennis
431:Golf
113:The
72:and
616::
333::
312:e
305:t
298:v
238:.
218:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.