Arc Heater Laboratory
The Large Core Arc Tunnel (LCAT) arc-jet facility supports the development of heat shield and temperature-resistant materials applicable to spacecraft and advanced weapon systems.
A secondary test site houses the T58 Hot Gas Generator, a small gas turbine engine which provides moderate temperature flow environments for evaluating materials and thermal control schemes in a turbojet-type exhaust environment.
Large Core Arc Tunnel (LCAT) Facility:
The LCAT facility is a vacuum-exhaust arc-jet facility utilizing the "MDC-200" Huels-type arc heater.
The high pressure design of the MDC-200 arc heater provides extremely reliable service in the typically low pressure operating regime of the LCAT facility.
Normal DC power input to the MDC-200 is variable from a few hundred kilowatts to approximately five megawatts, providing a wide operating range.
A variety of super-sonic nozzles can be fitted to the MDC-200 arc heater to further provide different test environments and satisfy specific test requirements.
Similar to larger U.S. government arc-jet facilities, the LCAT facility can accommodate both "wedge" and "stagnation" test requirements.
LCAT Facility Features:
- Five-position specimen insertion mechanism, with protected instrumentation housing
- Water-cooled "Wedge" and "Stagnation" test fixtures
- Flow diagnostic plates and probes for heat flux and pressure measurements
- Type "K", "R", "S", and "C" thermocouple instrumentation
- Pyrometers and imaging IR cameras for non-contact temperature measurements
- Modern PC-based data acquisition/processing systems - immediate data availability
- Axi-symmetric supersonic nozzles: 1.5" to 20" exit diameters
- Square and rectangular supersonic nozzles: 0.5" x 0.5", 0.8" x 1.3", and 3" x 3" exits
- Semi-elliptic nozzles
- Stagnation heat flux levels from 40 to 4000+ W/cm2
- Wedge heat flux levels from 1 to 2000+ W/cm2
- Rugged, continuous operation steam ejector system for vacuum generation
- Ability to operate on gases and gas mixtures other than air
- Video and "still" digital cameras to document in-test specimen performance
- Semi-automated non-contact specimen measurement system to document pre- and post-test specimen topography
- Small, dedicated test crew providing high test throughput
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