The H.A.D.E.S. Wind Tunnel Facility: Experimental Capabilities and Operating Envelope

The High-hypersonic Altitude-simulating Dynamic Experimental System (H.A.D.E.S.) is a blowdown, combustion-heated wind tunnel facility developed to provide optically accessible test conditions for aerothermodynamic and propulsion-relevant investigations in a Mach 5-8 corridor. The facility is capable of producing an oxygen-enriched, vitiated, heated-air stream using hydrogen-fueled flow-conditioning and expands the resulting stagnation state through interchangeable converging-diverging nozzles to establish target freestream conditions at the nozzle exit plane. Downstream hardware is sized to accommodate full-scale test articles within a sealed test section that supports simultaneous line-of-sight and laser-based diagnostics, with provisions for instrumentation feedthroughs, a catch-can assembly, and a diffuser. Since the required back-pressure for higher-altitude simulation cannot be sustained by a free-jet configuration alone, a dedicated ejector subsystem is incorporated to maintain low back-pressure operation for the upper end of the altitude corridor. In addition to documenting the facility architecture and key design requirements, this paper presents an operating envelope framework that links facility control variables to representative freestream conditions and outlines a characterization plan to establish repeatable condition tables for future campaigns.