What are the primary benefits and drawbacks (pros and cons) of aeroballistic testing vs. wind tunnel testing?
The benefits of aeroballistic testing are true flow chemistry and no model mount (sting) induced effects. In other words extremely accurate data. The drawbacks are small model size (scale) and short test duration (typically milliseconds). • What is the difference between a light-gas gun and a regular gun? A light gas-gun uses a gun powder charge to shoot a plastic (polyethylene) piston into a tube filled with hydrogen. As the piston travels down the tube the hydrogen is compressed, hence raising it’s pressure and temperature. The resultant high pressure and temperature hydrogen is used to accelerate the projectile down and out the gun barrel. Light-gas guns can achieve velocities up to 7 times faster than most typical guns. • The Ames Vertical Gun Range can be oriented to shoot projectiles at angles ranging from horizontal to vertical, why is this important? Being able to vary the impact angle of the projectile with respect to gravity is extremely important when studying the physics of
