Burst Diaphragm

Hypervelocity Wind Tunnel No. 9 (Tunnel 9) is located in White Oak, Maryland and is part of United States Air Force Arnold Engineering Development Complex (AEDC). It is a unique world-class ground-test facility with a blowdown capability that uses gaseous nitrogen as the working fluid and operates at Mach numbers of 7, 8, 10, 14, and 18. Tunnel 9 provides critical aerodynamic test and evaluation (T&E) data necessary for vehicle development.

Tunnel 9 is used for hypersonic ground testing and the validation of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The burst diaphragms are critical components to testing operations and are a consumable (two diaphragms per run). A sufficient inventory is critical to continuing operation of the Tunnel and support testing operations. Atch 1 and Atch 2 contains engineering drawings describing the burst diaphragms (Drawing # 77-1088 and 80-1126).

The current burst diaphragms are made from Stainless Steel Type 304 Annealed Plate/Sheet (ASTM A666), Tantalum Alloy (Ta-10W) Annealed Plate/Sheet (ASTM B708), and Niobium-Hafnium Alloy (C-103) Annealed Plate/Sheet (ASTM B654).