Influence of real gas effects on the hypersonic rarefied flow near the sharp leading edge of a thin plate

Abstract

In this paper are presented the results of an investigation of the induced pressure distribution on a thin plate with a sharp leading edge placed in supersonic rarefaction flow. The research was carried out in the low-density wind tunnel under the following conditions in the incident flow 5·7 ⩽ M ⩽ 14, 30 ⩽ Re ∞/mm ⩽ 600. The results obtained show that as one approaches sufficiently closely to the leading edge, the strong interaction theory no longer agrees with the experimental data and as χ = [(μ 3 ∞√C ∞)/√Re x∞ increases, the induced pressure on the plate approaches a constant value starting with χ> χ lim , where χ lim depends upon the Mach number. For example, χ lim is similar to 8 at the Mach number 5·7. The most characteristic of the induced pressure distribution is the deviation of the induced pressure from the strong interaction theory as rarefaction increases. There is a strong decrease in Δ P/ χP ∞ for [( μ ∞√ C ∞)/√ Re x∞ ] > 0·2.