Off-stagnation point testing and methodology in plasma wind tunnel

Dedicated ground testing is a fundamental requirement for TPS design since nowadays spacecraft, which have stringent mass budget, need more and more precise and specific testing conditions. Plasma wind tunnels are commonly used for the suitable dissociated flow environments they provide for stagnation point testing. This paper explores the capabilities that such facilities could offer also for off-stagnation point testing to complement aerothermodynamic databases. A methodology for simulating reacting boundary layers in offstagnation point conditions is assessed with numerical computations. The VKI Plasmatron facility and the related measurement techniques are presented, for the new testing configuration. The first experimental results are examined to analyze the testing methodology and discuss its relevance for flight extrapolation applications.