Research activity at the shock tube facility at NASA Ames

The general design and operating conditions of NASA Ames's electric arc drive shock tube facility are described, and the measurements conducted at the facility to support the development of a theoretical model of the effects of chemical nonequilibrium over a hypersonic vehicle are summarized. In particular, attention is given to the results of measurements at a shock velocity of 6.20 km/s in 1 Torr nitrogen and measurements at a shock velocity of 10.2 km/s in 0.1 Torr air. The discussion covers reaction rate measurement, the use of holographic interferometry, and measurements of vibrational populations using Raman scattering.