Hypersonic viscous flow near the stagnation streamline of a blunt body. ii - third-order boundary-layer theory and comparison with other methods

Abstract

It is shown in Part I that the assumption of local similarity is very accurate for predicting flow quantities near the stagnation streamline of a blunt body. Here we adopt that assumption to calculate the third-order boundary-layer approximation in this region. The calculation is also made using viscous-layer approximation and direct integration through the shock wave. Comparisons are made to evaluate the relative applicability of these three approaches. It is found that third-order boundary-layer theory is valid in the range from intermediate to very high Reynolds numbers, but fails at low Reynolds number. Heat-transfer rates at the surface are compared with available experimental results. With reference to the various flow profiles plotted, a description is given of the development of the flow field from inviscid to low-Reynolds-number flow.