Shock tube application: High enthalpy European wind tunnels

High enthalpy wind tunnels which are used in Europe for the development of new hypersonic vehicles are described. Also included are three new tunnels which will be in operation shortly. More details are given for one piston tunnel (Longshot at VKI in Brussels, Belgium) and two shock tunnels (C2 at Vernon, France and TH2 at Aachen, Germany). A key problem is the knowledge of the test section flow. A technique has been developed to rely only on the measured test section data for the determination of Stanton numbers and pressure coefficients.