Effects of Surface Recombination on Heat Transfer to Bodies in a High Enthalpy Stream of Partially Dissociated Nitrogen

Abstract

Heat-transfer rates to two surfaces having widely different catalytic effectiveness are compared at a Mach number of 6 in a low-density stream of partially dissociated N. The heat-transfer rate to a polished Cu cylinder is twice as great as the heat-transfer rate to a SiO-coated cylinder when the stream total energy content is 9000 Btu/lb. Various methods for determining the stream energy content, the stream velocity, and the stream Mach number were developed and compared. Methods for estimating the stream energy content by means of purely aerodynamic concepts may neglect the sizable fraction of the stream energy contained in molecular dissociation. (Author)