Capabilities
Please download the brochure below for more background about APPL and its capabilities.
APPL is equipped with several state of the art experimental rigs, diagnostic instrumentation, and infrastructure. For more detail on any of these see below:
![Aerothermal Rig Aerothermal rig with labels for sand injector, water-cooled burner, equilibration tube, and test section.](/content/aoe_vt_edu/en/research/multidisciplinary-centers-labs/appl/capabilities/_jcr_content/content/vtmultitab/vt-items_0/vtmultitab_copy/vt-items_0/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.png)
- Studies sand ingestion in aircraft engines and interaction with engine hardware
- Operating temperature – 1500 Kelvin (atmospheric pressure)
- Sand velocities of 100 m/s targeted
- Sand deposition and restitution is measured.
![High Pressure Combustor Rig rendering of High Pressure Combustor Rig](/content/aoe_vt_edu/en/research/multidisciplinary-centers-labs/appl/capabilities/_jcr_content/content/vtmultitab/vt-items_0/vtmultitab_copy/vt-items_1/adaptiveimage_320083.transform/m-medium/image.png)
![High Pressure Combustor Rig Diagram of High Pressure Combustor Rig](/content/aoe_vt_edu/en/research/multidisciplinary-centers-labs/appl/capabilities/_jcr_content/content/vtmultitab/vt-items_0/vtmultitab_copy/vt-items_1/adaptiveimage_141430.transform/m-medium/image.png)
- Capable of continuous operation with pressure up to 10 bar at a flow rate up to 1.2 kg/s
- Capable of turbine inlet temperatures of 1700°C
- Water quench system to cool exhaust gas before back pressure valves
- 3 – 5x8” Rectangular optical access windows at dump plane
![Transonic Wind Tunnel Diagrams of Transonic Wind Tunnel](/content/aoe_vt_edu/en/research/multidisciplinary-centers-labs/appl/capabilities/_jcr_content/content/vtmultitab/vt-items_0/vtmultitab_copy/vt-items_2/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.png)
– Heat Transfer and aerodynamic performance of engine hardware is studied in the transonic regime.
– IR thermography used to measure heat transfer in external flow (endwall, blade surface etc)
– Blowdown facility. Operates at 10 lbm/s for 30 seconds.
![Hot Jet Rig Photo of Hot Jet Rig](/content/aoe_vt_edu/en/research/multidisciplinary-centers-labs/appl/capabilities/_jcr_content/content/vtmultitab/vt-items_0/vtmultitab_copy/vt-items_3/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.jpg)
- Rig provides an open electrically heated jet (700 °F)
- Variety of experiments performed, e.g., acoustic studies to understand aircraft sound pollution, effect of vertical takeoff/landing on ship decks, acoustic thrust measurement etc.
- Instruments include stereo-PIV, time-resolved DGV, time-resolved schlieren, background-oriented schlieren, scattering and extinction particle diagnostics, and IR thermography.
![Hypersonic Tunnel Photo of Hypersonic Tunnel](/content/aoe_vt_edu/en/research/multidisciplinary-centers-labs/appl/capabilities/_jcr_content/content/vtmultitab/vt-items_0/vtmultitab_copy/vt-items_4/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.png)
– Operates at Mach 2-7
– Blowdown facility, run time of approximately 2s.
– Electric heater (220/380 V) with capacity 15 – 20 kW provides the flow stagnation temperature up to 800 K to prevent condensation of air at hypersonic speeds.
– Research and Instructional use
![Lasers Laser Module](/content/aoe_vt_edu/en/research/multidisciplinary-centers-labs/appl/capabilities/_jcr_content/content/vtmultitab/vt-items_1/vtmultitab_copy/vt-items_0/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.jpg)
![Infrared Cameras Infrared camera and example image](/content/aoe_vt_edu/en/research/multidisciplinary-centers-labs/appl/capabilities/_jcr_content/content/vtmultitab/vt-items_1/vtmultitab_copy/vt-items_1/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.png)
![Processed Compressed Air Air compressor outside lab](/content/aoe_vt_edu/en/research/multidisciplinary-centers-labs/appl/capabilities/_jcr_content/content/vtmultitab/vt-items_2/vtmultitab_copy/vt-items_0/adaptiveimage.transform/m-medium/image.jpg)
@Researchers: Reserve time on the compressor here.