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Chinese researchers simulate hypersonic bombing in wind tunnel

  • New device uses robotic arms to test an aircraft’s ability to unload cargo, such as a weapon or spacecraft, at extremely fast speeds
  • Hypersonic planes require extensive wind tunnel testing to minimise risk of collision

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Hypersonic flight creates air flow patterns that can increase the risk of a plane and its cargo colliding. Photo: Lin Jinzhou
Stephen Chen
Researchers in southwest China say they have developed the world’s most advanced system for testing an aircraft’s ability to unload a weapon or small spacecraft at extremely fast speeds, allowing them to test a prototype hypersonic bomber.
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Since the 1960s, military scientists have used a device known as a captive trajectory system (CTS) during wind tunnel tests to study the cargo offloading ability of bombers and other military aircraft. The systems typically use a small crane to move the bomb or missile away from an aircraft to replicate the parting of two objects against strong currents in a wind tunnel.
A team led by Lin Jinzhou of the China Aerodynamics Research and Development Centre in Sichuan province said they have built a hypersonic CTS that uses two robotic arms to hold and tilt a prototype aircraft and its cargo, allowing them to pitch, rotate and roll in nearly all directions.
Chinese scientists developed a device that uses robotic arms to hold and tilt prototype planes and their cargo during wind tunnel tests. Credit: Lin Jinzhou
Chinese scientists developed a device that uses robotic arms to hold and tilt prototype planes and their cargo during wind tunnel tests. Credit: Lin Jinzhou

In 2017, Lin’s team built the world’s first CTS with the ability to function in a hypersonic wind tunnel against hot, superfast shock waves. The new device is a major upgrade of their earlier one-armed CTS, according to a paper published on Monday in the peer-reviewed Chinese journal Acta Aerodynamica Sinica.

During an experiment in a one-metre-wide (3.3 feet) wind tunnel, the upgraded device allowed the Chinese researchers to simulate offloading cargo at Mach 6 – six times the speed of sound – and obtain data with unprecedented detail and accuracy, the paper said.

When working together, the two robotic arms have 12 degrees of freedom, or independent joints – twice as many as in previous experiments. This allows researchers to simulate almost any phenomenon that can happen during separation.

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This development pushes China ahead in the hypersonic race as similar wind tunnel tests conducted in other countries have required one component – usually the aircraft – to stay put. Additionally, these other tests were conducted at speeds lower than Mach 5, while hypersonic flight exceeds Mach 5.
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