Stagnation Point of a Blunt Body in Hypersonic Flow

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present a method of calculation devised to yield all the important information on the symmetric inviscid hypersonic flow in the stagnation point region of a blunt body. The problem is the same as that considered by Hayes3 who used a slightly different approach. I t is demonstrated that Hayes' results are valid in the stagnation point region and can hence be considered a basis for constructing less restricted solutions. Equations are presented giving velocity, pressure, detachment distance, and vorticity. The values of shock detachment distance and body pressure coefficient are compared with experimental data for spheres. The pressure comparison shows that the results of Hayes and the theory presented herein represent a better approximation than the Newtonian impact theory for hypersonic Mach Numbers. In conclusion, the possibility of refinements to this analysis is discussed.