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NASA is reaching out to members of the GrabCAD community who may be familiar with or are interested in the testing of atmospheric entry vehicles. Currently, NASA has a ground-testing capability gap in the area of hypersonic vehicle testing in high-enthalpy hypersonic flow with chemically reacting gas for simulation of vehicle entry into Earth, Mars, and other planetary atmospheres. Defining the possible performance range of a hypervelocity expansion tunnel and developing a preliminary design will provide the necessary data required to advocate for funds to construct a new facility.
The goal is to develop a set of credible concepts for a hypervelocity expansion tunnel for ground testing of human-rated entry vehicles that provides a broad design trade-space for decisions on cost/size vs performance, leading to a down-selection for final design.
NASA has no facilities capable of producing the required test conditions and is forced to rely on external providers at a high cost and limited accessibility. Thus, design safety margins for entry vehicles have high uncertainties, which typically leads to higher mass designs to reduce risks.
NASA is looking for ideas that can be incorporated into the design of their next generation expansion tunnel facilities. We are challenging the GrabCAD community to design innovative concepts for an advanced hypersonic (Mach 5 to 20) expansion tunnel that can be used to study human-rated entry vehicles.
A successful outcome of this contest is a credible 3D model of an expansion tunnel.
The expansion tunnel must accommodate test models that have dimensions up to 24 inches (0.6 meter). The sample chamber design should have ample optical access to accommodate techniques like Schlieren, laser techniques, and emission/absorption spectroscopy.
Similar examples of such hypervelocity expansion tunnels can be found in the literature (https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-1602).
Contest submissions must include:
1. CAD models of an expansion tunnel setup.
2. Include concepts for the drive section (generation of high pressure)
3. Include concepts for the diaphragm(s) initially separating the sections
4. Consider feasible methods of construction and mechanisms. This may be provided in 2D drawings or as a 3D model.
Renderings of the system in operation will be used to help communicate the concept and potentially be used in proposed options for the overall report on future wind tunnel development strategies, recommendations, and future challenges for other aspects of an entire wind tunnel.
For information on current NASA suite of wind tunnels see: Link
FILE FORMAT GUIDELINES:
1. Model File Formats shall be delivered in a nonproprietary format (STEP or IGES).
2. Renderings: Two separate viewing angles (.jpg or .png formats)
3. Any supplemental description documents shall be in PDF format.
4. If zipped, the file compression shall be compatible with Safari or Chrome and not require any special software to unzip.
JUDGING FACTORS:
1. Concept expands currently available testing parameters at NASA.
2. Concept manufacturing and construction is feasible.
3. Concept does not require extensive support infrastructure or have serious safety issues.
4. Quality and fidelity of the 3D models.
5. Concept allows for efficient testing operations (model changeout, efficient test preparation, etc.).
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CONSIDERATIONS:
o All material (including the CAD model itself and all written documents) must be free of any copyright restrictions
o Use only models, photos, or images created during the project unless you have obtained the right from the copyright owner for unrestricted use – do not blindly copy images from internet websites
o Images on .gov websites are often (but not always) public data; check before assuming
o Include documentation of any usage permissions
The Government is seeking a full government purpose usage license for further development of the concept. It is hoped that the winning concepts can be fabricated and tested in a follow-on activity, funded by NASA
Eligibility: Solutions from countries listed as Type 1, 2, or 3 on the NASA Designated Countries List are Not eligible for monetary prizes. The list is frequently updated, and the latest version can be found here. This challenge is not open to NASA Personnel.
ENTERING THE COMPETITION The Challenge is open to everyone except employees and families of GrabCAD and the Sponsor. Multiple entries are welcome. Team entries are welcome. By entering the Challenge you: 1. Accept the official GrabCAD Challenges Terms & Conditions. 2. Agree to be bound by the decisions of the judges (Jury). 3. Warrant that you are eligible to participate. 4. Warrant that the submission is your original work. 5. Warrant, to the best of your knowledge, your work is not, and has not been in production or otherwise previously published or exhibited. 6. Warrant neither the work nor its use infringes the intellectual property rights (whether a patent, utility model, functional design right, aesthetic design right, trademark, copyright or any other intellectual property right) of any other person. 7. Warrant participation shall not constitute employment, assignment or offer of employment or assignment. 8. Are not entitled to any compensation or reimbursement for any costs. 9. Agree the Sponsor and GrabCAD have the right to promote all entries. If you think an entry may infringe on existing copyrighted materials, please email challenges@grabcad.com.
SUBMITTING AN ENTRY Only entries uploaded to GrabCAD through the "Submit entry" button on this Challenge page will be considered an entry. Only public entries are eligible. We encourage teams to use GrabCAD Workbench for developing their entries. Entries are automatically given the tag "NASA_Hypervelocity_Expansion_Tunnel" when uploading to GrabCAD. Please do not edit or delete this tag. Only entries with valid tag will participate in the Challenge.
AWARDING THE WINNERS The sum of the Awards is the total gross amount of the reward. The awarded participant is solely liable for the payment of all taxes, duties, and other similar measures if imposed on the reward pursuant to the legislation of the country of his/her residence, domicile, citizenship, workplace, or any other criterion of similar nature. Only 1 award per person. Prizes may not be transferred or exchanged. All winners will be contacted by the GrabCAD staff to get their contact information and any other information needed to get the prize to them. Payment of cash awards is made through Checks mailed to the Winners. All team awards will be transferred to the member who entered the Challenge. Vouchers will be provided in the form of Stratasys Direct Manufacturing promo codes. We will release the finalists before the announcement of the winners to give the Community an opportunity to share their favorites in the comments, discuss concerns, and allow time for any testing or analysis by the Jury. The Jury will take the feedback into consideration when picking the winners. Winning designs will be chosen based on the Rules and Requirements schedule.
Schedule
This Challenge ends on Sunday, October 6, 2024 at 11:59 PM Eastern Standard Time. Any Changes after the date will be considered as disqualificationsCAD-Only Rendering Requirement:
All renderings and visual representations submitted for NASA challenges must be directly generated from CAD software or other approved design tools. The use of generative AI to create or enhance submissions is strictly prohibited. This policy ensures that all entries are original works and prevents the inadvertent inclusion of copyrighted material that may be present in AI-generated content. Participants are responsible for ensuring their submissions comply with this requirement to maintain the integrity of the challenge and respect intellectual property rights.
$7,000
$3,000
$2,000
$1,000
$750
$250
Justin Haskins, NASA ARC
Aaron Brandis
Thomas West
This challenge supports the Entry Systems Modeling project which is funded by NASA’s Space Technology Mission Directorate.
Have an awesome idea for this competition? Want to win cool prizes? Sign-up now to upload your entries.
If you don't receive the email within an hour (and you've checked your Spam folder), email us as confirmation@grabcad.com
16 comments
Germano Pecoraro Designer about 1 year ago
What!?
D B about 1 year ago
Hello, I am not able to access the literature and video, It requires an institutional login or else it's behind a paywall for individuals like me, do we have any other means to access the content
TARUN KUMAR DUTTA about 1 year ago
Nice one more challenge
javad kazemi about 1 year ago
hello
I need to thank the proposers of this great challenge.
We are proud to be able to participate in this challenge as much as one pixel, because it is related to protecting the lives of precious scientists and astronauts.
Therefore, there are many prerequisites that must be specified.
1- From what source is the thrust of air with high speed and several times the speed of sound.
2- If it is produced by strong fans, what is the volume of high-speed air, and what is the amount of humidity and dust.
3- Earth's atmosphere in different layers can have dust particles and ice particles, even hail, raindrops and sand particles, can these things exist in the tunnel and be simulated?
4- What materials can the protective layer and thermal shield be made of in the original model?
5- What is the minimum sub-zero temperature at the time of entry into the atmosphere and the maximum temperature created at the highest fall speed, and should these thermal factors be predicted and simulated in the test tunnel or not?
Thanks to the engineers associated with the project for answering these questions
with respect
Javad Kazemi
jos groot about 1 year ago
For me it is not clear, do they want a Arc-jet hypersonic tunnel or a Shock tunnel, and what test facility the Nasa already have at Langley
*Arc-jet hypersonic tunnel (flow super hot air, plasma, past test objects to simulate the friction at hypersonic speed which causes surfaces to heat up to more than 8,000K)
*Shock tunnels, sometimes called blast expansion tunnels, use valves or burst diaphragms with a fast-action release to send hypersonic shockwaves down the tunnel, allowing for the study of high Mach number flows on test articles for around 0.5 to 5.0 milliseconds.
Article: https://www.aerospacetestinginternational.com/features/hypersonic-wind-tunnels-explained.html
Elisha Ajayi about 1 year ago
Is the use of blender allowed for rendering models and showing how the concept works
Sandro Gisler about 1 year ago
D B, sorry for the delayed response. I checked all the links and they should all be directly accessible without any type of credentials. Can you send me the specific link you have problems with?
Sandro Gisler about 1 year ago
Hi Javad, thanks for your questions! In general, if a specification is not given, you may make best realistic assumptions for what they would be.
1) “The source of air thrust” is indeed the challenge here. 2) Fans are not fast enough to generate the required speeds.
For environmental conditions, you may make reasonable assumptions.
Sandro Gisler about 1 year ago
Jos, Submission can be innovative new implementations of the tunnel types you mention, or entirely new technologies that achieve the specified criteria.
Donald Jacob about 1 year ago
Hi Mr Sandro. I am unable to access the full document without having to pay (https://arc.aiaa.org/doi/epdf/10.2514/6.2022-1602), neither can i watch the video without credentials (https://video.aiaa.org/title/63701d99-07c4-426f-83c1-a40ee539d7c0). Please can we have these resources uploaded to a more accessible server? Thank you very much
Jagdish Arora about 1 year ago
I have submitted to the challenge. You can ask me any question related to the design. https://amazon.com/author/jagdisharora
Melissa Yearta 12 months ago
Congratulations to all the challenge winners! They are now posted under "Results". Winners will be contacted shortly.
Marcelo Valderrey 12 months ago
Congratulations to the winners!
Mustafa ÇOBANOĞLU 12 months ago
Congratulations to all participants.
Thanks to this challenge, I learned a little bit about things I never knew before.
Jagdish Arora 11 months ago
Good job. All winners submitted one part design of some sections. If NASA wants the actual full design with all details they can contact me at techbagg@outlook.com Unfortunately the complete design including all parts and their technical details cannot be submitted openly here as it is a manufacturing design not a concept model. A single component design is also possible with only one tank.
Christina Noda 5 months ago
hi
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