On November 21, the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) announced on its official WeChat social media account that its new FL-64 wind tunnel test facility has completed the first phase of trial operation, paving the way for its official commissioning.
According to AVIC, the diameter of the FL-64 system is 1 m, designed to simulate hypersonic speeds between Mach 4 and Mach 8 at an altitude of 48 kilometers and a total temperature of 900 K (626.8°C), and provide a minimum running time of 30 seconds . It is also designed to perform a series of hypersonic aircraft simulation tasks, including dynamic force and pressure measurement, heat flow, and air intake and weapon separation testing.
The development of the FL-64 system is led by the Aerodynamics Research Institute (AVIC ARI) of AVIC in Shenyang and has received technical assistance from the China Aeronautics and Space Administration (CAE). The work will begin at the end of 2019.
The company added that preliminary tests of the partially completed wind tunnel were successfully carried out in December 2020, and the construction of the main components was completed in September 2021.
“The construction of a large wind tunnel is a complex system engineering. Hypersonic wind tunnels are faced with multiple challenges such as high temperature, high pressure, and high speed. Development is an arduous task,” said AVIC, noting that the facility will be fully operational. At that time, the Mach 4 hypersonic aircraft was fully tested and verified.
AVIC ARI started the development of its first hypersonic wind tunnel FL-63 at the end of 2013. The FL-63 with a variable diameter of 0.3-0.5 m is designed to simulate speeds between Mach 3 and Mach 10.
In addition to FL-64, the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS) in Beijing is also developing the JF-22 wind tunnel. The JF-22 is expected to be put into use in 2022 and is reported to be designed to simulate speeds of up to Mach 30 at an altitude of 40 km to 100 km.
Xiao Wu
