Belstead Research has extensive experience of managing destructive, aerodynamic and aerothermodynamic test campaigns. This includes the use of both hypersonic wind tunnels and static facilities to measure material properties, explore physical phenomena and certify spacecraft component demise.
Test campaigns have been successfully executed at DLR Cologne (L2K, L3K, TMK, H2K), IRS Stuttgart (PWK1, PWK4), VKI Plasmatron and AAC re-entry chamber. Our personnel also have experience of facilities at ArianeGroup (SIMOUN, Comete), ONERA (F4, S4, R2Ch) and the University of Manchester (HSST)
Belstead Research can support all aspects of an experimental campaign, including:
- Facility selection.
- Test campaign and individual experiment design.
- Test sample design and procurement.
- Definition of test conditions.
- On-site management of tests.
- Test result analysis and rebuild using SAMj simulations.
- Construction of surrogate engineering models and correlations.
- Extrapolation to simulated flight conditions.
- Assessment of high temperature material properties, inclusive of catalycity and emissivity.
- Fundamental research into material and component fragmentation and demise phenomena.
- The design and ESA certification of demisable spacecraft components.