Hypersonic Lifting Body Boundary-Layer Analysis at High Angles of Incidence

Abstract

Formulation and application of a windward surface boundary-layer analysis are presented for general lifting body configurations at high angles of incidence under hypersonic perfect gas conditions. The present technique applies the strip theory concept, leading to an infinite-extent yawed body treatment applied in the windward surface crossflow plane for both the inviscid and viscous (boundary-layer) flowfields. A one-strip integral relations approach is used to determine the spanwise surface pressure distribution at a given body location with all inviscid centerline quantities determined via an inviscid conical flow approach. The boundary-layer analysis is based on implicit finite-difference integration of the governing equations for infinite-extent, yawed, blunt-body boundary layers. Both laminar and turbulent flows are considered using a three-dimensional eddy viscosity mixing length model of turbulence. Comparisons of the present strip theory approach with experimental data on Space Shuttle configurations are presented. Results of the current study include the tentative identification of spanwise crossflow-induced boundary-layer transition and a ^-power scaling of turbulent boundary-layer heat-transfer rate with respect to changes in the freestream Reynolds number as well as verification of the wall temperature effect on turbulent boundary-layer heat transfer as reflected in the Stanton number.