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GAO/NSIAD-92-5 -- page 99
Chapter 6
Japanese Aerospace Test Facilities and Their Capabilities
Plans for the development of Japanese aerospace vehicles, such as
the National Space Development Agency of Japan's HOPE spaceplane,
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science's HIMES vehicle, and
the National Aerospace Laboratory's air-breathing
single-stage-to-orbit aerospace plane concepts, have
significantly increased Japanese interest in hypersonics. Also,
the NASP Program is substantially responsible for this increased
interest in Japan in a field that had been relatively dormant in
the United States and Europe for about 20 years. However,
research and development of Japanese aerospace vehicles and
concepts require not only adequate test facilities and a
comprehensive understanding of hypersonics but also experienced
and trained personnel.
This assessment of Japanese aerospace test facilities and their
capabilities includes wind tunnels and air-breathing propulsion
test cells; advanced materials research, development, production,
and fabrication laboratories; supercomputer facilities; and
Japanese facilities needed to test future aerospace vehicles.
Wind Tunnels and Air-Breathing Propulsion Test Cells
Japanese wind tunnel facilities are generally small, modeled after U.S. facilities, and adequate only for limited subscale testing. Japanese government and industry officials told us existing test facilities in Japan are not adequate for large-scale testing or developing an aerospace plane. The National Aerospace Laboratory's 50 centimeter Hypersonic Wind Tunnel is currently the only hypersonic wind tunnel in Japan. Figure 6.1 shows the test section of the National Aerospace Laboratory's 50 centimeter Hypersonic Wind Tunnel at Chofu.GAO/NSIAD-92-5 -- page 100 Figure 6.1: National Aerospace Laboratory's 50 Centimeter Hypersonic Wind Tunnel The Laboratory plans to invest about $26.3 million between Japan fiscal years 1991 and 1993 to construct a new test leg for its 50 centimeter Hypersonic Wind Tunnel. The new test leg is designed to have a 1.27-meter exit diameter Mach 10 nozzle parallel to the existing 50-centimeter test section. This size was determined by the maximum capability of existing wind tunnel facilities to provide detailed aerodynamic data
GAO/NSIAD-92-5 -- page 101 during HOPE'S development phase. The size was also determined by an analysis of U.S. hypersonic tests conducted during development of the U.S. space shuttle. The National Aerospace Laboratory's Ram/Scramjet Combustor Test Facility, built at the Kakuda Branch in 1977 and upgraded in 1983, is an intermittent, blowdown engine/propulsion component facility. The facility is capable of conducting direct-connect tests of ramjet and scramjet combustors up to speeds of Mach 2.5. However, the facility is primarily a small research facility. According to Laboratory officials, the Laboratory does not have a good combustion test facility for a scramjet. Moreover, its large vacuum test chamber is inadequate for large engine component testing. The National Aerospace Laboratory's Ram/Scramjet Engine Test Facility will be an intermittent blowdown hypersonic wind tunnel. The facility is being built at the Laboratory's Kakuda Branch by Kobe Steel in cooperation with FluiDyne Engineering Corporation. The facility is now scheduled to be placed in operation in 1993. The types of tests being conducted in Japanese facilities is also an important indicator of not only their capabilities but also of their intentions. Specific examples of the types of tests and applications of Japanese wind tunnels are discussed in our June 1990 report on foreign test facilities.[1]
Limitations in Ground Test Capabilities
Adequate ground test capabilities and facilities to test future air breathing aerospace vehicles above speeds of Mach 8 for sustained periods do not exist. In fact, no single facility or group of facilities is capable of creating the combination of velocities, temperatures, and pressures necessary to simulate these aerospace vehicles' actual flight conditions. Therefore, flight demonstrators are being developed, or being considered for development, by the United States, Soviet Union, Germany, and Japan as "flying test beds" to validate the required technologies at speeds between Mach 8 and 25.1. This report provides technical data and information on principal Japanese wind tunnels and air breathing propulsion test cells, including performance characteristics (i.e., technical parameters describing the facility's principal capabilities and operating range), cost information, and the number and type of staff required to operate the facility. This catalogue of foreign aerospace test facilities also provides narrative information describing each facility, its testing capabilities, planned improvements, unique characteristics, and current programs.
GAO/NSIAD-92-5 -- page 102
Computational Fluid Dynamics
Although Japanese aerospace vehicle programs depend heavily on numerical aerodynamic simulation, they still rely on wind tunnels to validate new designs, refine design configurations, establish data bases, and validate computational fluid dynamics simulations. Fundamental research in hypersonics for HOPE, HIMES, and single-stage-to-orbit aero space plane concept and system studies will also rely heavily on the Japanese hypersonic wind tunnel and instrumentation.Advanced Materials Research, Development, Production, and Fabrication Laboratories
The National Space Development Agency of Japan's Tsukuba Space Center has facilities for research and development of structure and thermal protection technology for its launch vehicles and HOPE. The National Aerospace Laboratory is building a new structural laboratory at its Chofu Airfield Branch, to be completed in 1991, that will test thermal properties and strength of aerospace plane structures and materials. The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science's Research Division for Space Transportation at Sagamihara has research sections for vehicle structures and high-strength materials. Recent activities have included, for example, research on the fracture of metallic materials at high temperatures. The Japan Ultra-high Temperature Materials Research Center was established in Yamaguchi Prefecture and the Japan Ultra-high Temperature Materials Laboratory in Gifu Prefecture in March 1990 to achieve rapid progress in research and development of ultra-high temperature materials. These facilities were established under the basic research improvement plan of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization. Fuji's advanced materials laboratories in Utsunomiya have a wide range of advanced materials capabilities, including carbon-carbon composites and reinforced carbon-carbon composites. Fuji has facilities for super plastic forming, diffusion bonding, and electron beam-welding processes. Fuji is also studying molding processes of thermoplastic composites and carbon-polyimide, evaluating composite material characteristics under a space environment (e.g., electron beam radiation and thermal cycles), and developing various thermal protection systems. Fuji also has extensive composite material lay-up facilities and autoclaves for composite material manufacturing. However, Fuji does not have rapid solidification technology production capability. Mitsubishi's composite materials laboratory in Nagoya has facilities for developing superplastic forming, diffusion bonding, and electron beamGAO/NSIAD-92-5 -- page 103 welding processes. Its laboratory is conducting research on autoclave molding of titanium foil, studying advanced fabrication of carbon-carbon, studying molding processing for thermoplastic composites, and evaluating the thermal properties of composites. It has the capability to conduct thermal protection system analyses on carbon-carbon composites, ceramic tiles, and metallic thermal protection systems. It also has an organic matrix composites manufacturing capability.
Supercomputer Facilities
The National Aerospace Laboratory has been conducting numerical aerodynamic simulation since 1960 and, with a loosely coupled multi-processor system with two supercomputers, established an innovative research facility in 1987 at its Chofu Airfield Branch. The facility has a Fijitsu FACOM[2] VP-400 supercomputer with a peak processing speed of 1.14 gigaflops and a 1-gigabyte main memory and a Fijitsu FACOM VP-200 supercomputer with a peak processing speed of 570 megaflops and a 128-megabyte main memory. The Laboratory has 40 to 50 people working on computational fluid dynamics codes, including full Navier Stokes computational fluid dynamics codes. The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science has a Fijitsu VP-200 supercomputer at its Sagamihara headquarters. Japanese aerospace industry generally uses intermediate-class computers (an older mainframe computer that is not as fast as a mini supercomputer), but has access to the National Aerospace Laboratory's Fijitsu VP-400 supercomputer at user's or reasonable cost. Japanese industry is using full Navier-Stokes computational fluid dynamics codes in their aerospace plane research. The privately owned Institute for Computational Fluid Dynamics near Tokyo employs 27 people, including 16 engineers. Its computational hardware includes a Hitachi S8-20/80 supercomputer acquired in 1990 that has a 2-gigaflop processing rate and 512 megabytes of memory. In 1986 the Institute acquired a Fijitsu VP 200 supercomputer with a 570-megaflop processing rate and 256 megabytes of memory. In 1987 the Institute acquired a Nippon Electric Corporation SX2 supercomputer with a 1.3-gigaflop processing rate and 256 megabytes of memory. In 1989 the Institute acquired a Fijitsu VP-400E supercomputer with a 1.3-gigaflop processing rate and 512 megabytes of memory.2. In Japan, Fijitsu supercomputers are commonly identified by the acronym FACOM, which stands for Fijitsu Automatic Computer.
GAO/NSIAD-92-5 -- page 104 Japanese universities, according to the advanced supercomputer liaison scientist with the Office of Naval Research in Tokyo, generally have the best supercomputers in Japan. As of August 1990, for example, the University of Tokyo's Hongo Campus had the latest and fastest Japanese supercomputer: a Hitachi S8-20. This supercomputer has a maximum processing speed of 3 gigaflops and a 512-megabyte main memory. The University of Hokkaido also has the Hitachi S8-20. Kyoto University has a Fijitsu VP-400E-the top of the line Fijitsu supercomputer. The University of Osaka and Tohoku University in Sendai each have the 256-megabyte memory Nippon Electric Corporation SX2 supercomputer. In Japan, the number of people performing large-scale computations (such as computational fluid dynamics research on an aerospace plane) is significantly less than in the United States, according to the Office of Naval Research liaison scientist. For example, as of March 1991, Kawasaki has the most in Japanese industry (six to seven people).
Japanese Facilities Needed for Testing Future Aerospace Vehicles
Space Development Agency officials said Japan will need to construct new hypersonic wind tunnels; a shock tunnel with a 1.5-meter test section at the National Aerospace Laboratory or at the Space Development Agency; high-enthalpy wind tunnels; a guidance, navigation, and control facility; and a landing facility for HOPE. The Institute of Space and Astronautical Science is proposing scramjet test facilities at the National Aerospace Laboratory, but funding is a problem. Ishikawajima-Harima is planning to build an engine test facility at Kakuda. According to U.S. Department of Commerce officials in Osaka, the Chubu region is conducting a conceptual study to build a world class aerospace research center in Chubu, Japan, known as the Chubu Aerospace Institute. Although still in its preliminary stages, this project is significant, according to U.S. officials, and demonstrates Japan's desire to play a central role in international cooperative development of hypersonic and supersonic transport aircraft. According to the Chubu Industrial Advancement Center, the Chubu Aerospace Institute is expected to cost about $577 million for a facility with a supersonic wind tunnel or about $ 1.9 billion for a facility with a hypersonic wind tunnel. Japanese officials have not yet determined a site or timetable for completion of the project. However, the Institute is expected to have a research staff of 120 with an additional 30 support employees to conduct studies on aircraft and space projects. TheGAO/NSIAD-92-5 -- page 105 planned Institute is also expected to have laboratories for engines, aerodynamics and air power, systems and materials, and aircraft systems. U.S. Department of Commerce officials said the creation of such a center could serve as an enticement for international collaboration on the HOPE spaceplane.
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