Numerical models of two complex hypersonic flowfields

Abstract

Numerical solutions of the compressible Navier-Stokes equations assuming a perfect gas and laminar flow are applied to two hypersonic experiments conducted at NASA Langley Research Center. The first is cooling by injection of a gas jet through the nose of an ogive-cone, and the second is the aerothermal environment in the gap formed by the wing and elevon section of a test model of the Space Shuttle. The simulations demonstrate that the model predicts accurate pressures and shock stand-off for the gas jet and accurate pressures for the wing-elevon cove. Experimental heating rates for the gas jet indicate turbulent mixing to be occurring, an effect not modeled in the numerical solution.