European Shock-Tube for High Enthalpy Research: Design and Instrumentation, Manufacturing, and Acceptance Testing

摘要

We discuss the design, manufacturing, and qualification of the ESTHER shock-tube and its associated instrumentation. ESTHER is a new generation shock-tube funded by the European Space Agency and developed by an international consortium led by the Institute of Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion, an associated laboratory from the Instituto Superior Tecnico of Lisbon. This facility aims at improving the European predictive capabilities for Spacecraft planetary entries, providing support for the next generation European exploration endeavours. The main drivers for this facility design have been (in no particular order) performance, repeatability, and cleanliness. These are enforced through an innovative design encompassing a laser-ignited, H_2/He/O_2 combustion driver capable of reaching pressures up to 600bar, and strict tolerances for the shock-tube interior surface state. A significant effort has also been put into setting-up state-of-the-art diagnostics. Besides the traditional streak-camera/spectrometer setups for carrying emission spectroscopy in the visible range, an additional VUV capable streak-camera/spectrometer setup is under development, complemented by a fast camera/MWIR spectrometer setup. ESTHER will be capable of carrying optical measurements in the extended 150nm-4.5μm range. Finally an in-house developed interferometer will be deployed for providing time-resolved electron density measurements.