Energy Matter Interaction Tunnel (EMIT)

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Purpose and Diagnostics

Our research stems from the following questions: How do materials behave in the hypersonic environment? What happens when they encounter something they aren’t expecting—like weather? The Energy–Matter Interaction Tunnel (EMIT) aims to study material response in high enthalpy environments with clean shear flow.

As we explore and characterize new material response under hypersonic flow conditions, we are concurrently developing advanced, time-dependent diagnostics to measure transient phenomena for code development and model validation. All of our diagnostics are portable and can be deployed at a range of facilities across the hypersonic development complex.

Publications

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Generating Data, Promoting Research

Keene, L.T., Lum, J.S., Busby, E. et al. Laser Speckle Pattern Stability in Hypersonic Regimes for Experimental Mechanics and Metrological Studies. Exp Tech 48, 101–113 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40799-023-00648-y

Lum, J.S., Keene, L.T., Goldberg, B.M. et al. In Situ Optical Detection for Ultrasonic Characterization of Materials in a Mach 10 Hypersonic Wind Tunnel. Physical Review Applied, 18:4, 044062 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevApplied.18.044062

Future Directions

Using EMIT to Measure Gas Phase Physical Chemistry

A new project has been funded measuring gas phase concentrations and spectral signatures for various materials in EMIT, with a focus on developing these diagnostics for use in highly emissive high temperature environments.

We are additionally exploring facility upgrades, including higher Mach number flow, adjusting flow gas (species and concentration) chemistry, addition and measurement of stress/strain/bending to material samples and other forms of off-nominal material response.

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Energy Matter Interaction Tunnel

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S&TR Wind Tunnel Project 
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