College of Engineering

Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering

Diagnostics and Test Beds

The CCL has extensive advanced diagnostic equipment, including ...

• High-speed cameras
• A broad catalog of dynamic and static pressure sensors
• Schlieren system for flow visualization.
• Multi-color pyrometer for non-contact temperature measurements
• Ultrasound pulse-echo detection system for non-intrusive determination of the surface regression process and determination of instantaneous web thickness of solid fuels/propellants.
• Multi-channel acoustic emission recording and analysis system for determination of onset of ignition and combustion duration, as well as detection of combustion anomaly.

In addition the CCL has several experimental combustion devices, including ...

• An optically accessible pressure vessel for conducting burning rate measurements of solid propellants under inert environments.
• A series of scaled combustion chambers can be configured as hybrid or solid rocket motors to evaluate propulsive performance.