Hypersonic Facilities

Hypersonic Facilities
The group has three world-class, high-speed wind tunnels, capable of producing flow from supersonic to hypersonic and all the way to hypervelocity:
Facility |
Mode |
Mach |
P0 [MPa] |
T0 [K] |
Test time [ms] |
T6 Stalker Tunnel |
Multi-mode Facility |
6-30 |
75/1000’s |
5000/10,000’s |
0.05-2 |
High Density Tunnel |
Ludwieg / LICH |
3-10 |
25 |
1250 |
70-500 |
Low Density Tunnel |
Suck down |
6-10 |
0.01 |
273 |
continuous |
The facilities are part of the National Wind Tunnel Facility. This offers a minimum of 25% access of the tunnels and instrumentation to outside parties (academic or commercial).

Hypersonics Facility




T6 Stalker Tunnel
The T6 Stalker Tunnel (T6) is Europe’s highest speed wind tunnel, capable of producing flows in excess of 20 km/s. It is a multi-mode facility, capable of operation either as reflected shock tunnel, an expansion tunnel or a shock tube. The facility is driven by the T3 free piston driver, designed by the late Prof. Ray Stalker, being one of the most powerful created in the world. The facility was developed by the University of Oxford (McGilvray and Doherty) in collaboration with the University of Queensland (Morgan and Gildfind).
T6 Stalker Tunnel specifications in different modes of operation:
Facility |
Reflected Shock Tunnel |
Expansion Tunnel |
Shock Tube |
Testing type |
Subscale model |
Subscale model |
Shock layer radiation |
Test duration |
1-3 ms |
50-500 μs |
2-50 μs |
Flow core diameter |
150-200 mm |
50-120 mm |
80 or 250 mm |
Max flow speed |
6.5 km/s |
12 km/s |
18 or 9 km/s |
Specifications:
- Free piston driver
- 9.5 m long, 300 mm dia. driver
- 250 MPa max pressure (cap at 75 MPa)
- Driven 1 & Driven 2 tubes
- 8.65 m long, 96.3 mm dia. shock tube
- Connections at 2.75 m, 7 m from P.D.
- Max 100 MPa (cap at 75 MPa, nominally Copper electroplated at throat
- Mach 7 and 8 contoured nozzles for reflected shock tunnel mode
- Aluminium Shock Tube
- 7 m long, 250 mm dia. shock tube
- Couples via expansion nozzle to Driven 1 tube
- Actuated traverse +/- 15 deg AoA. +/- 5 deg AoY




High Density Tunnel
The High Density Tunnel (HDT) is a reconfigured and upgraded facility from the original RAE shock tube, acquired by the University of Oxford in 2012. It operates either as a Ludwieg tunnel or a Light Piston Compression Heating facility, producing cold hypersonic flow conditions with test times long enough to investigate unsteady flow effects.
Specifications:
- Cold hypersonic flow facility for steady and unsteady aerothermodynamic testing
- Test durations up to 70 ms
- 6.5 m long, 152 mm diameter driver
- 17.4 m long, 152 mm diameter barrel
- Mach 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 contoured nozzles
- Actuated traverse +/- 15 deg AoA. +/- 5 deg AoY


Low Density Tunnel
The Low Density Tunnel (LDT) is rarefied flow facility, with the ability to produce flows with high Knudsen numbers representative of those experienced in the slip regime.
The facility is continuous and is capable of measuring aerodynamic coefficients by use of a magnetic suspension balance.