Shock Layer Research Articles

The mechanism behind jet entrainment into the upstream boundary layer for multi-regime mixing of a jet in hypersonic crossflow

Existing methods for improving the mixing of jets in supersonic and hypersonic crossflows focus on the addition of obstructions such as cavities, steps, and wedges, which serve to create re-circulation zones and increase the residence time of the fuel–air mixing. Recent literature has shown that, under certain conditions, the jet stream can pass into the boundary layer upstream of the jet, where low-velocity high-residence time mixing can occur. To develop a fundamental understanding of the entrainment mechanism of the jet fluid to the forward boundary layer (J-FBL), an implicit large eddy simulation is employed for a Mach 5 hypersonic crossflow and a momentum flux ratio of 5.18 between the jet and crossflow. It is observed that the jet fluid entrainment occurs through a thin channel stemming from the barrel shock, close to the bow shock and near-wall shear layer. By measuring the flow through this channel, it is shown that the J-FBL entrainment flux varies over time. It is observed that the entrainment channel from the jet to the boundary layer varies in size, shape, and direction with the deformation of the barrel shock by the formation and shedding of the barrel shock shear layer (BSL) vortices. From this, it is determined that the driving mechanism for the J-FBL entrainment is the size and shape of the barrel shock. It is concluded that any flow control schemes that alter the shape of the barrel shock may be employed for utilizing the J-FBL entrainment phenomena and thus near-wall mixing.

Specific Features of the Flow in the Shock Layer near a Semicone on a Flat Plate

Specific Features of the Flow in the Shock Layer near a Semicone on a Flat Plate

Non-monotonic dependence of the bow shock stand-off distance on the velocity of a CO2 flow about a sphere

A non-monotonic dependence of the bow shock stand-off distance around a spherical body recently observed in ballistic range experiments in CO2 is explained by a qualitative theoretical analysis and confirmed numerically. The analysis is based on the estimation of the average density in the shock layer with the Rankine–Hugoniot relations on the normal shock for chemically frozen and chemically equilibrium limits using a simplified chemistry model. The analysis reveals that a maximum of the density ratio across the shock and, therefore, a minimum of the stand-off distance as functions of the flight velocity are normally observed in CO2 and other gases, such as additionally considered N2, both in frozen and equilibrium flows. The low dissociation energy of CO2 results in relatively low flight velocities (around 5 km/s) at which the extrema are observed. It makes the effect more readily detectable in experiments in CO2 than in the Earth's atmosphere gases. The results of numerical simulations of the CO2 flow by solving the Navier–Stokes equations agree well with the ballistic range experiments and fully support the results of the theoretical analysis.

Numerical Simulation of Spectral Radiation for Hypersonic Vehicles

The spectral radiation of hypersonic vehicles and surrounding flow fields is crucial for optical target detection. A novel approach combines Low-Discrepancy Sequences with the Reverse Monte Carlo Method to simulate the spectral radiation of hypersonic missiles. The effects of chemical non-equilibrium reactions and high-emissivity coating failures on the spectral radiation of a typical biconical hypersonic missile were investigated. Significant differences were found among chemical equilibrium, non-equilibrium, non-reactive, and catalytic wall models. High-emissivity coating failures occur mainly in the high-temperature regions of the nose cone and fins. The non-equilibrium model shows a transition peak distribution of NO in the head shock layer within the ultraviolet gamma band, with integrated ultraviolet radiation (200–300 nm) three times higher than the equilibrium model. In the 1–3 μm band, the non-equilibrium model’s radiation intensity at a 120° horizontal detection angle is about 1.46 times that of the equilibrium model. Using real coating emissivity, the 3–5 μm band radiation intensity is about 5% higher, and the 8–14 μm band is about 8.51% lower than the uniform emissivity model. When high-emissivity coating emissivity fails by 40%, the 3–5 μm band intensity decreases by about 15.38%, and the 8–14 μm band intensity decreases by about 12.67%.

Cooling film's suppressive effects on infrared system's radiation noise in aero-thermal environment.

Infrared imaging systems are crucial for guidance in supersonic vehicles due to all-weather capability, high resolution and high sensitivity. However, the imaging quality can be significantly impaired by aerodynamic thermal radiation noise. This paper incorporates cooling film that effectively eliminates the interference originating from supersonic thermal environments. A radiative transfer calculation framework that utilizes a high resolution line-by-line method for precise computation of radiative transfer from the target to the sensors of the imaging system is proposed. Heat flux across individual pixels indicates that the optical window serves as the primary source of interference within the 3 to 5 µm range. Additionally, the implementation of a cooling film significantly diminishes radiation noise, reducing interferences originating from both the optical window and the shock layer by an order of magnitude. Spectral analysis of the pixel's heat flux underscores the pivotal roles of CO2 and H2O in the absorption and emission processes within radiative transfer, thereby complicating the observations of remote sensing. Contrasting with the traditional spectral band model, our methodology affords wavelength-specific visualization of radiative intensities for both target and interference signals. This enhanced spectral resolution provides a foundational reference for significant enhancements in both the clarity and accuracy of the imaging system.

A Far-ultraviolet-detected Accretion Shock at the Star–Disk Boundary of FU Ori

FU Ori objects are the most extreme eruptive young stars known. Their 4–5 mag photometric outbursts last for decades and are attributed to a factor of up to 10,000 increase in the stellar accretion rate. The nature of the accretion disk-to-star interface in FU Ori objects has remained a mystery for decades. To date, attempts to directly observe a shock or boundary layer have been thwarted by the apparent lack of emission in excess of the accretion disk photosphere down to λ = 2300 Å. We present a new near-ultraviolet and the first high-sensitivity far-ultraviolet (FUV) spectrum of FU Ori. The FUV continuum is detected for the first time and, at λ = 1400 Å, is more than 104 times brighter than predicted by a viscous accretion disk. We interpret the excess as arising from a shock at the boundary between the disk and the stellar surface. We model the shock emission as a blackbody and find that the temperature of the shocked material is T FUV ≈ 16,000 ± 2000 K. The shock temperature corresponds to an accretion flow along the surface of the disk that reaches a velocity of 40 km s−1 at the boundary, consistent with predictions from simulations.

Updating the Loth Drag Model to Include Nonspherical Particle Effects

Sophisticated drag models have been developed over the past few decades that are based on ballistic range and other experimental data. These drag models are applicable over a wide range of particle-flow environments and include compressibility and rarefaction effects. One drawback of these sophisticated drag models is that they assume spherical particles. However, Martian dust particles and materials used in ground-based dusty-flow experiments such as Al2O3 or BN are known to be nonspherical. It is well known that nonspherical particles, in general, will experience higher drag forces compared to spherical particles. There has also been a considerable amount of research developing drag models that account for nonspherical particle shapes, but most of these models are restricted to incompressible, continuum particle-flow conditions. This paper presents a simple way to include nonspherical particle effects into the widely used Loth particle drag model. This updated drag model is used to simulate dust-laden flow experiments performed in the German Aerospace Center the multiple phase flow facility (GBK) experimental facility and in the shock layer of a Martian-entry spacecraft to assess the effectiveness and range of applicability of this new drag model. In the GBK experiment simulations, the modified Loth drag model, which includes both compressibility and nonspherical particle effects, showed improved comparison to the experimental data.

Influence of Incident Shock on Fuel Mixing in Scramjet

During the operation of hypersonic vehicles, a reciprocal coupling effect is manifested between the inlet and the combustion chamber. This results in an unavoidable non-uniformity of conditions at the combustion chamber’s entrance, which, in turn, influences the fuel mixing within the chamber. The present study employed the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations to perform a numerical simulation of an X-51-like vehicle, with a focus on examining the impact of isolation section length and multi-injection strategies on the fuel mixing characteristics within the combustion chamber under conditions of non-uniform inflow. The findings indicated that a supersonic non-uniform inlet triggers incident shock waves, leading to a non-uniform pressure distribution across the flow section. Moreover, the position of injection was found to be pivotal in regulating penetration depth and mixing efficiency. The incident shock wave, bow shock, and boundary layer separation shock interacted with each other to increase local pressure. The coupling of high and low pressures generated an adverse pressure gradient that led to boundary layer separation, which further enhanced fuel penetration depth.

Numerical Study of Plasma Characteristics Under Magnetohydrodynamic Flow Control in Mars Entry

Magnetohydrodynamic flow control is an active thermal protection method for atmospheric entry vehicles. This study examined the plasma characteristics under magnetohydrodynamic flow control and its thermal protection ability at multiple altitudes (20–60 km) on a typical direct Mars entry path using numerical simulation considering the Hall effect. The simulation considered a spherical-conical capsule with an entry velocity of 8 km/s at an altitude of 60 km, equipped with a dipole magnet generating a magnetic field of approximately 0.3 T at the stagnation point of the capsule. The results showed that magnetohydrodynamic flow control can mitigate convective aerodynamic heating at high altitudes (45 km or more), where the high electrical conductivity of the plasma creates strong magnetohydrodynamic interaction. In contrast, at low altitudes (35 km or less), magnetohydrodynamic flow control is ineffective owing to low electrical conductivity. The high electrical conductivity at high altitudes is attributed not only to large flight velocities under low atmospheric pressures but also to the enlargement of the shock layer owing to the strong magnetohydrodynamic interaction, which expands the ionization progression area. Furthermore, the results indicated that considering the Hall effect in the numerical modeling of magnetohydrodynamic flow control in Mars direct entry is essential.

Commissioning of Upgrades to T6 to Study Giant Planet Entry

The scientific potential of a mission to the ice giants is well recognized and has been identified by NASA and ESA as a high priority on several occasions, most recently in the 2023–2032 Decadal Survey. The payload capacity of such a spacecraft is limited by the heat shield thickness, which must be sized conservatively due to a lack of reliable data for convective and radiative heat flux along the proposed entry trajectories. Major upgrades to the Oxford T6 Stalker Tunnel have been commissioned that allow study of giant planet entry trajectories, including a flammable gas handling system, a Mach 10 expansion nozzle, and a steel shock tube with optical access. Initial testing has been completed in shock tube and expansion tunnel modes, with peak shock speeds of 18.9 km/s achieved. Convective heat flux and surface pressure were measured at several locations on a 45° sphere cone model in expansion tunnel mode. Measurements of the radiating shock layer were made in shock tube mode to assess the effect of CH4 concentration. This work establishes the first high-enthalpy giant planet entry test bed in Europe.

Propagation characteristics of the Bessel-Gaussian beams in turbulent plasma sheath surrounding the hypersonic aerocraft

Propagation characteristics of the Bessel-Gaussian beams in turbulent plasma sheath surrounding the hypersonic aerocraft

Kinetic Viscous Shock Layer near the Leading Edge of a Thin Rotating Disk

Kinetic Viscous Shock Layer near the Leading Edge of a Thin Rotating Disk

Radiative Heat Transfer Measurements of Titan Atmospheric Entry in a Shock Tube

Measurements were performed in the T6 Stalker facility operating in Aluminum Shock Tube mode for conditions relevant to Titan entry. Spatially and spectrally resolved radiation emitted from a high-temperature test gas behind a normal shock was recorded by means of emission spectroscopy. For Titan atmospheric entry, the main radiator of interest is cyano radical, formed in the nonequilibrium region behind the shock. The tests reported in this work measured radiation at velocities from 3.1 to 8.5 km/s and freestream pressures of 13, 20, and 133 Pa at a nominal composition of 98% N2 and 2% CH4. These shock layer radiation experiments employed an optical emission spectroscopy system on each side of the facility to allow two spectral regions to be measured simultaneously for each test, covering the spectral range of 200–900 nm. The present work provides a new, comprehensive benchmark set of data relevant to Titan entry studies.

The influence of heterogeneous catalytic processes on the heat flux to the surface and the chemical composition of the shock layer at high-speed flow around blunt bodies

The influence of heterogeneous catalytic processes on the heat flux to the surface and the chemical composition of the shock layer at high-speed flow around blunt bodies

Unsteady flow of droplet liquid in hydraulic systems of aircrafts and helicopters: models and analytical solutions

The subject of this study is the unsteady flow of liquid in pipelines, which are part of the design of airplanes and helicopters. This name means, first of all, the phenomenon of a sharp increase in pressure in the pipeline, which is known as a hydraulic shock. Although we have already learned to deal with this phenomenon in some parts of the systems, in many structural elements (flexible pipelines), inside which the working pressure reaches several hundred atmospheres, this phenomenon is still quite dangerous. As you know, the best way to deal with an unwanted phenomenon is through theoretical study. To date, there has been a huge amount of work in the direction of hydraulic shock research. This article does not fully cover these studies. It is limited to references to reviews and relevant works. Because the phenomenon of hydraulic shock has a significantly nonlinear character, analytical solutions of systems of equations corresponding to the simplest models were unknown until recently. This work presents, as an overview, already known analytical solutions describing the process of shock wave propagation. Most importantly, new achievements are given, both for the inviscid approximation and for considering internal viscous friction. It is shown that the internal friction within the considered model is negligible almost everywhere, except for the thin shock layer. The asymptotic is proportional to the tangent function and inversely proportional to the square root of the product of the Reynolds number and the dimensionless parameter characterizing the convection effect. Convection of the velocity field significantly affects the distribution of characteristics in hydraulic shock. If the self-similar solutions that were obtained earlier have a power-law character for the velocity distribution in the shock wave, then the simultaneous consideration in the model of convection and friction on the pipeline walls (according to the Weisbach-Darcy model) made it possible to obtain a distribution in the form of an exponential function that decays with increasing distance from the shock wave front. In addition, the work includes an original approach to solving a nonlinear system of differential equations that describes the propagation of a shock wave without considering the friction on the walls. Analytical solutions were obtained in the form of a function of pressure versus the velocity of shock wave propagation. Research methods. This work uses purely theoretical approaches based on the use of well-known fluid flow models, methods of analytical solution of differential equations and their systems, asymptotic methods, derivation of self-model equations, and finding their solutions. Conclusions. Analytical solutions of systems of differential equations were obtained, which describe models of hydraulic shock without considering viscous effects. A comparison of the obtained results with the results of other studies is given.

On the shock wave boundary layer interaction in slightly rarefied gas

The shock wave and boundary layer interaction (SWBLI) plays an important role in the design of hypersonic vehicles. However, discrepancies between the numerical results of high-temperature gas dynamics and experiment data have not been fully addressed. It is believed that the rarefaction effects are important in SWBLI, but the systematic analysis of the temperature-jump boundary conditions and the role of translational/rotational/vibrational heat conductivities are lacking. In this paper, we derive the three-temperature Navier–Stokes–Fourier (NSF) equations from the gas kinetic theory, with special attention paid to the components of heat conductivity. With proper temperature-jump boundary conditions, we simulate the SWBLI in the double cone experiment. Our numerical results show that, when the three heat conductivities are properly recovered, the NSF equations can capture the position and peak value of the surface heat flux, in both low- and high-enthalpy inflow conditions. Moreover, the separation bubble induced by the separated shock and the reattachment point induced by impact between transmitted shock and boundary layer are found to agree with the experimental measurement.

Evolution of Airy Beams in Turbulence Plasma Sheath

In order to study the transmission characteristics of Airy beams in the plasma sheath, the flow field around a hypersonic vehicle was numerically simulated and analyzed based on the Navier–Stokes (N-S) equation and a turbulence model. Then, according to the characteristics of the thickness of the plasma flow field around the supersonic vehicle at the centimeter level, the double fast Fourier transform (D-FFT) algorithm and multi-random phase screens theory were used to predict the propagation characteristics of the Airy beams in the turbulent plasma sheath. The results show that the lower the height and the higher the speed, the smaller the thickness of the plasma sheath shock layer. The refractive index variation in the sheath shock layer has a significant influence on Airy beam transmission. At the same time, the transmission distance and the attenuation factor of the Airy beams also change the transmission quality of the Airy beams. The larger the attenuation factor, the smaller the drift, and the standard deviation decreases with an increase in the refractive index. Airy beams have smaller drifts compared to Gaussian beams and have advantages in suppressing turbulence.

Effects of charge exchange on plasma flow in the heliosheath and astrosheathes

ABSTRACT Shock boundary layers are regions bounded by a shock wave on the one side and tangential discontinuity on the other side. These boundary layers are commonly observed in astrophysics. For example, they exist in the regions of the interaction of the stellar winds with the surrounding interstellar medium. Additionally, the shock layers (SLs) are often penetrated by the flows of interstellar atoms, as, for instance, in the astrospheres of the stars embedded by the partially ionized interstellar clouds. This paper presents a simple toy model of an SL that aims to qualitatively describe the influence of charge exchange with interstellar hydrogen atoms on the plasma flow in astrospheric SLs. To clearly explore this effect, magnetic fields are neglected, and the geometry is kept as simple as possible. The model explains why the cooling of plasma due to charge exchange in the inner heliosheath leads to an increase in plasma density in front of the heliopause. It also demonstrates that the source of momentum causes changes in the pressure profile within the SL. The paper also discusses the decrease in plasma density near the astropause in the outer SL in the case of layer heating, which is particularly relevant in light of the Voyager measurements in the heliospheric SL.

Investigation of high enthalpy thermochemical nonequilibrium flow over spheres

The hypersonic high enthalpy nitrogen flows over spheres are investigated by high-fidelity state-to-state (StS) modeling. The objective of the study is to understand the nonequilibrium behaviors in the shock layer, including the stagnation line features, surface heat transfer rate, and near-wall properties inside the thermal boundary layer. Two cases with the freestream total enthalpies of 16.5 and 15.5 MJ/kg are considered, and the numerical results are compared with the experimental data. The StS model yields an accurate prediction of the shock stand-off distance with the experiment rather than an underestimation by the traditional two-temperature model. Both the StS and two-temperature models provide general agreement of the stagnation point heat flux with the experiment. In comparison, the heat flux obtained by the StS model is lower than the two-temperature model. Note that our work finds distinctive behaviors of near-wall properties. The vibrational energy is not accommodated with the sphere surface and is in thermal nonequilibrium with the translational energy, with evidence showing that the vibrational temperature is much higher than the wall temperature and the translational temperature. The values of vibrational temperature in the immediate vicinity of the stagnation point are 9.3 and 10.0 times the wall temperature for the cases with total enthalpies of 16.5 and 15.5 MJ/kg, respectively. Moreover, the vibration temperature demonstrates a nonmonotonic variation trend with a local minimum, which can be explained by the nonequilibrium distributions of vibrational energy states due to vibrational-translational energy transfer and molecular recombination.

Numerical study on the non-equilibrium characteristics of high-speed atmospheric re-entry flow and radiation of aircraft based on fully coupled model

The strong coupling interactions of non-equilibrium flow, microscopic particle collisions and radiative transitions within the shock layer of hypersonic atmospheric re-entry vehicles makes accurate prediction of the aerothermodynamics challenging. Therefore, in this study a self-consistent non-equilibrium flow, collisional–radiative reactions and radiative transfer fully coupled model are established to study the non-equilibrium characteristics of the flow field and radiation of vehicle atmospheric re-entry. The comparison of the present calculation results with flight data of FIRE II and previous results in the literature shows a reasonable agreement. The thermal, chemical and excited energy level non-equilibrium phenomena are obtained and analysed for the different FIRE II trajectory points, which form the critical basis for studying the heat transfer and radiation. The non-equilibrium distribution of excited energy levels significantly exists in the post-shock and near-wall regions due to the rapid vibrational dissociation and electronic under-excitation, as well as the wall catalytic reactions. The analysis of stagnation-point heating of FIRE II illustrates that the translational–rotational convection and the dissociation component diffusion play key roles in the aerodynamic heating of the wall region. The spectrally resolved radiative intensity in the entire flow field indicates that the vacuum ultraviolet radiation caused by the high-energy nitrogen atomic spectral lines makes the main contribution to the radiative transfer. Finally, it is found that the non-equilibrium flow–radiation coupling effect can exacerbate the excited energy level non-equilibrium, and further affect the gas radiative properties and radiative transfer. This fully coupled study provides an effective method for reasonable prediction of atmospheric re-entry flow and radiation fields.