Experimental and predicted pressure and heating distributions for aeroassist flight experiment vehicle

Abstract

Pressure and laminar heat-transfer rate distributions measured over the forebody of 2.2% scale (3.67-in.diam) models of the Aeroassist Flight Experiment vehicle in air at Mach 10 are presented for a range of angles of attack of from -10 to 10 deg. Two values of freestream Reynolds number based on model diameter in the symmetry plane of the base were tested, 1.63 and 6.48 x 10 s. Predictions from an inviscid flowfield code referred to as HALIS (High ALpha Inviscid Solution) and a Navier-Stokes solver referred to as LAURA (Langley Aerothermodynamic Upwind Relaxation Algorithm) were in good agreement with pressure measurements. Heat transfer rates predicted with the LAURA code were generally in good agreement with measurements over the cone and skirt sections but tended to underpredict measurements in the stagnation region.