Located in the mountainous Huairou district north of Beijing, the JF-22 wind tunnel has a diameter of 4 meters (13 feet) and can generate airflow speeds of up to 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) per second, according to final assessments conducted on May 30.
The JF-22, based in Beijing, can simulate extreme flight conditions at speeds up to 30 times the speed of sound. Photo: SCMP
This makes it the world's largest and fastest wind tunnel, capable of simulating hypersonic flight conditions up to Mach 30, according to the Chinese Institute of Mechanics, the owner of the facility.
The institute said in a statement Friday that the tunnel will “support research and development of China’s hypersonic space transport systems and aircraft.” For comparison, the Mach 10 tunnel at NASA’s Langley Research Center in the U.S., a major hypersonic test facility, has a test section diameter of nearly 0.8 meters. The larger test section allows researchers to bring larger aircraft models or even entire instruments into the wind tunnel to obtain more accurate flight data.
The JF-22 is an integral part of the Chinese government's goals for 2035. By then, Beijing hopes to deploy a fleet of hypersonic aircraft capable of carrying thousands of passengers into space each year or to anywhere on the planet within an hour. But such aircraft must be able to withstand the extreme temperatures and pressures of hypersonic flight, while maintaining a stable flight path and a safe, comfortable environment for passengers.
Traveling at five times the speed of sound, the air molecules surrounding the aircraft begin to compress and heat up intensely, leading to a phenomenon known as molecular dissociation. The air molecules break down into their constituent atoms, which can then react with each other to form new chemical substances.
According to the research institute, understanding the complex physical properties of flows involved in molecular dissociation is crucial for the development of supersonic aircraft. By studying these phenomena in laboratory environments using facilities such as wind tunnels, researchers can learn how supersonic vehicles interact with their surroundings and develop new technologies to improve their performance and safety.
Wind tunnel testing can also help identify potential problems or design flaws before the vehicle is actually built and flown, reducing the risk of malfunctions or accidents. According to some estimates, simulating Mach 30 flight conditions inside a large tunnel would require energy equivalent to that generated by the Three Gorges Dam – an impossible feat.
Professor Jiang Zonglin, the leading scientist on the JF-22 project, came up with an innovative solution. To generate the high-speed airflow required for the supersonic test, Jiang proposed a new type of shock wave generator called a “direct-reflecting shock wave driver.” In traditional supersonic wind tunnels, airflow is generated by a process called “expansion,” in which high-pressure gas is rapidly released into a low-pressure chamber, creating a supersonic flux.
However, this method has limitations in generating the extremely high speeds and temperatures required for ultrasonic testing. Jiang's reflected shock wave driver overcomes these limitations by using a series of precisely timed bursts to create a series of shock waves that reflect each other and converge at a single point.
The result is a powerful burst of energy used to control airflow within the wind tunnel at extremely high speeds. According to the institute, the innovation has paved the way for further advances by bringing greater precision and efficiency to research on hypersonic flight.
By combining data, researchers can gain a better understanding of how different materials and designs perform under a range of flight conditions and use that information to improve the performance and reliability of hypersonic weapons or aircraft. According to Jiang's team, these facilities could put China years ahead of its competitors.
Mai Anh (according to SCMP)
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