Experimental Demonstration Of A New Concept Of Drag Reduction And Thermal Protection For Hypersonic Vehicles

A new idea of drag reduction and thermal protection for hypersonic vehicles is proposed based on the combination of a physical spike and lateral jets for shock-reconstruction. The spike recasts the bow shock in front of a blunt body into a conical shock, and the lateral jets work to protect the spike tip from overheating and to push the conical shock away from the blunt body when a pitching angle exists during flight. Experiments are conducted in a hypersonic wind tunnel at a nominal Mach number of 6. It is demonstrated that the shock/shock interaction on the blunt body is avoided due to injection and the peak pressure at the reattachment point is reduced by 70% under a 4A degrees attack angle.

Preparation of Dendritic Copper Nanostructures and Their Characterization for Electroreduction

Dendritic copper nanostructures of different morphologies were synthesized by a surfactant-free electrochemical method. Single crystal nature of the nanostructures was revealed from their X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction patterns. Mechanism of dendrite formation was discussed from thermodynamic aspects using the concept of supersaturation. Supersaturation of the copper metal reduced on the surface of the electrode was the crucial factor for the generation of different morphologies. Effects of applied potential, temperature, and the solution concentration on the supersaturation were studied. The NO3- and H2O2 electroreduction ability of the dendritic materials was tested. Use of copper dendrite-modified electrode as NO3- sensor was demonstrated.