The von Karman Gas Dynamics Facility at Arnold Engineering Development Complex, Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee, provide aerothermal ground test simulations of hypersonic flight over a wide range of velocities and pressure altitudes.
Tunnel A is a 48-inch squared, continuous, closed-circuit, variable density, supersonic wind tunnel with a Mach number range of 1.5 to 5.5 with a maximum temperature of 290 degrees Fahrenheit.
Provided with air heated to a maximum of 900 degrees Fahrenheit with natural gas-fired heaters.
It offers an aerothermal environment for testing materials proposed for use on space vehicles and aircraft.
The one-of-a-kind wind tunnel makes it possible to subject flight hardware to a combination aerodynamic and thermodynamic—or heating—effects up to 1,440 degrees Fahrenheit so engineers can study how aerospace vehicles and material response to the combined effects of external heating, internal heat conduction and pressure loading.