Silent hypersonic: a unique wind tunnel has officially begun operations.

A distinctive feature of this tunnel is its so-called “quiet” design. Studying hypersonics in wind tunnels is challenging because the tunnel itself creates strong turbulence and shock waves that disrupt the experimental conditions. The “quiet” design addresses this issue.

Interestingly, another hypersonic wind tunnel at the same university has been operational for 6 years. This facility significantly surpasses all other American setups of its kind in size. Its active zone measures almost 2 meters in length and 60 cm in width, while the chambers of other hypersonic tunnels are no longer than 70 cm.

The construction of the new tunnel was funded by the U.S. Navy, which is the primary stakeholder in hypersonic vehicle research.

However, its maintenance and the execution of experiments will be financed not from the military budget but through state and private scientific grants. As a result, researchers working on peaceful applications have also benefited from its construction. For instance, disaster medicine is interested in the development of hypersonic aviation.

Although Notre Dame's new facility is the best in the New World, there are even more powerful ones globally: the most remarkable wind tunnel in the world is located in Sichuan, China, operating at speeds of up to 33 Mach numbers.