Determination of the body shape for minimum radiative heating along a flight trajectory

Space vehicles are subject to intense aerodynamic heating in planetary entry. According to estimates in [1], the heat shield mass for entry of a probe into the atmospheres of the outer planets can make up 20–50% of its total mass; here the radiative component predominates in the aerodynamic heating. It is therefore interesting to investigate methods of reducing the heat flux to the nose region of a vehicle. Analysis shows [2–6] that, for a given atmospheric composition, the heat-shield weight is determined by the trajectory, the body shape, the heat-protection method, and the chemical composition and the thermophysical and optical properties of the heat shield material. In such a general statement of the problem, optimization of the heat-shield mass depends on many parameters, and has not been solved hitherto. A number of papers have examined simpler problems, associated with reducing spacevehicle heating: optimization of the trajectory from the condition that the total heat flux to the body stagnation point should be a minimum for given probe parameters [2, 3], optimization of the characteristic probe size for a given trajectory [2–4], and optimization of the probe shape in a class of conical bodies at a given trajectory point [3, 5, 6J. In [7] a variational problem was formulated to determine the shape of an axisymmetric body from the condition that the radiative heat flux to the body at a given trajectory point should be a minimum for the entire surface, and an analytical solution was found for this in limiting cases. The present paper investigates a more general variational problem: determination of the shape of an axisymmetric body from the condition that the total radiative influx of heat to the body along its atmospheric trajectory should be a minimum. A solution has been obtained for a class of slender bodies for different isoperimetric conditions.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 94–100, March–April, 1978.     

Distribution of radiant thermal flux over the surface of a sphere for hypersonic flow of a nonviscous radiating gas past the sphere

In the present study using the Newtonian approximation [1] we obtain an analytical solution to the problem of flow of a steady, uniform, hypersonic, nonviscous, radiating gas past a sphere. The three-dimensional radiative-loss approximation is used. A distribution is found for the gasdynamic parameters in the shock layer, the withdrawal of the shock wave and the radiant thermal flux to the surface of the sphere. The Newtonian approximation was used earlier in [2, 3] to analyze a gas flow with radiation near the critical line. In [2] the radiation field was considered in the differential approximation, with the optical absorption coefficient being assumed constant. In [3] the integrodifferential energy equation with account of radiation was solved numerically for a gray gas. In [4–7] the problem of the flow of a nonviscous, nonheat-conducting gas behind a shock wave with account of radiation was solved numerically. To calculate the radiation field in [4, 7] the three-dimensional radiative-loss approximation was used; in [5, 6] the self-absorption of the gas was taken into account. A comparison of the equations obtained in the present study for radiant flow from radiating air to a sphere with the numerical calculations [4–7] shows them to have satisfactory accuracy.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 6, pp. 44–49, November–December, 1972.In conclusion the author thanks G. A. Tirskii and É. A. Gershbein for discussion and valuable remarks.     

Influence of the temperature of the surface of an axisymmetrical body and forward radiation on the distribution of a radiant flux on its surface in hypersonic flow-past

A solution is obtained of the flow-past problem for an axisymmetrical body with steady-state hypersonic nonviscous, space-radiating gas flow in a hypersonic approximation. It is shown as illustrated by the example of flow-past of a sphere by an air flow, that the relative distribution of the radiant flux weakly depends on a calculation of surface re-radiation, while the size of the radiant flux substantially depends on body temperature T_W at a critical point. The distributions of radiant flux for sphere flow-past by a CO₂-N₂ gas mixture (at T_W = 0) are calculated using a previously developed method. It is shown that different CO₂ contents in the initial mixture of the incident gas flow weakly affect this distribution. The dependence of the distribution of the radiant flux and departure of the shock wave on the boundary condition for gas enthalpy in the pressure shock, taking into account forward radiation, is investigated. Asymptotic expressions are obtained for sphere flow-past for the case of a strongly radiating gas. Distributions of the radiant flux for different assumptions for the boundary conditions in shocks are calculated.     

Hypersonic flow-past of plane blunt bodies by a nonviscous radiating gas

An analytic solution is obtained in the work in a Newtonian approximation [1] for the flow-past problem for a plane blunt body by a steady-state uniform hypersonic inviscous space-radiating gas flow. The hypersonic flow-past problem for axisymmetrical blunt bodies by a nonviscous space-radiating gas has been previously considered [2–4]. In this case a satisfactory solution of the problem was obtained even in a zero-th approximation by decomposing the unknown values in terms of a parameter equal to the ratio of gas densities before and after passage of the shock wave. The solution of the problem in a zero-th approximation with respect to in the case of flow-past of plane blunt bodies does not turn out to be satisfactory, since the departure of the shock and the radiant flux to the body as gas flows into the shock layer turns out to be strongly overstated under nearly adiabatic conditions. Freeman [5] demonstrated that results may be significantly improved for flow-past of a plane blunt body by a nonradiating gas if a more precise expression is used for the tangential velocity component expressed in a new approximation with respect to the parameter . This refinement is applied in this work for solving the flow-past problem for a plane blunt body by a space-radiating gas. The distribution of the gasdynamic parameters in the shock layer, the departure of the shock wave, and the radiant heat flux to the surface of the body are found. The solution obtained is analyzed in detail for the example of flow-past regarding a circular cylinder.Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhanikii Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 3, 68–73, May–June, 1975.     

Radiative heat transfer at the leading edge of a body during intense evaporation

The problem of the flow of a radiating gas near the leading part of a body during intense vaporization of its surface is solved. Significant radiative heating occurs when a sufficiently dense gas flows past the body, thus a gasdynamic model of the flow is used according to which the flow takes place in a shock layer and a vapor layer separated by the contact surface. The radiant energy flux from the shock layer is partially absorbed by a vapor layer and falls on the surface of the body, causing intense vaporization.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 190–192, March–April, 1975.     

Two-phase mass injection from the stagnation zone of a blunt body in a hypersonic flow

A mathematical model of the hypersonic steady gas flow over the stagnation zone of an axisymmetric blunt body with given two-phase injection from the surface is proposed. The two-continuum model of a dusty gas [3] is used for describing the flow in the region of the wall. The problem is solved in the boundary layer and thin viscous shock layer approximations. On the basis of the numerical calculations the distribution of the parameters of the carrier and dispersed phases near the axis of symmetry is obtained. The similarity parameters determining the convective heat transfer are found. The stagnation point heat fluxes with and without particles are compared. The range of parameters on which particles can significantly reduce the heat transfer is determined.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No.4, pp. 60–66, July–August, 1992.     

Analytic investigation of friction and heat transfer in the neighborhood of a three-dimensional stagnation point at low and moderate Reynolds numbers

A study is made of hypersonic three-dimensional flow of a viscous gas past blunt bodies at low and moderate Reynolds numbers with allowance for the effects of slip and a jump of the temperature across the surface. The equations of the three-dimensional viscous shock layer are solved by an integral method of successive approximation and a finite-difference method in the neighborhood of the stagnation point. In the first approximation of the method an analytic solution to the problem is found. Analysis of the obtained solution leads to the proposal of a simple formula by means of which the calculation of the heat flux to a three-dimensional stagnation point is reduced to the calculation of the heat flux to an axisymmetric stagnation point. A formula for the relative heat flux obtained by generalizing Cheng's well-known formula [1] is given. The accuracy and range of applicability of the obtained expressions are estimated by comparing the analytic and numerical solutions. Three-dimensional problems of the theory of a supersonic viscous shock layer at small Reynolds numbers were considered earlier in [2–5] in a similar formulation but without allowance for the effects of slip.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 143–150, March–April, 1988.     

Influence of real gas properties on the integral aerodynamic coefficients

The results of mathematically modeling axisymmetric hypersonic flow past an ellipsoid are presented. The calculation data are obtained on the basis of a numerical solution of the complete Navier—Stokes equations using a finite-difference method. The investigation is carried out for the problem of laminar flow over the windward side of the body. The effect of the elongation of the ellipsoid on the total heat flux and the viscous and pressure drag is considered. Results are obtained for three different gas (air) models: the perfect gas, chemical equilibrium and chemical nonequilibrium models. For the latter model various sets of catalyticity coefficients are considered. The effect of the real properties of air on the integral aerodynamic characteristics of ellipsoids with different elongations is analyzed.Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No.4, pp. 156–164, July–August, 1992.     

Strong mass injection at the surface of a blunt body in a supersonic flow

The case of supersonic flow over a blunt body when another gas is injected through the surface of the body in accordance with a given law is theoretically investigated. If molecular transport processes are neglected, the flow between the shock wave and the surface of the body should be regarded as two-layer, that is, as consisting of the flow in the shock layer between the shock wave and the contact surface and the flow in the layer of injected gas. A numerical solution of the problem is obtained near the front of the body and its accuracy is estimated. Approximate analytic solutions are obtained in the injected-gas layer: a constant-density solution and a solution of the boundary-layer type in the local similarity approximation. Near the flow axis the numerical and analytic solutions are fairly close, but at a distance from the axis the assumptions made reduce the accuracy of the approximate solutions. The flow in question can serve as a gas-dynamic model of a series of problems describing the radiant heating of blunt bodies in a hypersonic flow. In the presence of intense radiative heat transfer, vaporization is so great that the thickness of the vapor layer is comparable with the thickness of the shock layer. Moreover, the thermal shielding of various kinds of obstacles in channels through which a radiating plasma flows can be organized by means of the forced injection of a strong absorber. The formulation of a similar problem was reported in [1], but the results of the solution were not given. A two-layer model of the flow of an ideal gas over a blunt body was used in [2, 3] for the analysis of radiative heat transfer. In [2] the neighborhood of the stagnation point is considered. In [3] preliminary results relating to two-layer flow over blunt cones are presented. The solution is obtained by Maslen's approximate method.Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR. Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 89–97, March–April, 1972.     

Investigation of a hypersonic viscous shock layer on rotating axisymmetric bodies in the presence of blowing

The hypersonic flow of a laminar stream of viscous compressible gas past blunt axisyrametric bodies rotating about the longitudinal axis is considered. It is assumed that gas blows from the surface of the body. The solution of the problem is obtained by a finite-difference method in a wide range of Reynolds numbers and blowing and rotation parameters. Some results of the calculations characterizing the effect of the rotation on the velocity and temperature profiles across the shock layer, on the friction and heat transfer coefficients, and the shock wave separation are given for the neighborhood of the stagnation point. For large Reynolds numbers and strong blowing an analytic solution of the problem is found in an approximation of two inviscid layers separated by a contact surface. The calculations are made for the flow past a sphere and a paraboloid and it is shown that in the presence of rotation the maximum of the heat flux is shifted from the stagnation point onto the side surface of the body. The dependence of the pressure distribution, the heat flux, and the friction coefficient is investigated for cases of constant and variable blowing over the contour of the body.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 106–114, January–February, 1986.     

Calculation of inviscid radiating gas flow past a blunt body

During hypersonic gas flow past a blunt body with a velocity on the order of the escape velocity or more, the gas radiation in the disturbed region behind the shock wave becomes the primary mechanism for aerodynamic heating and has a significant effect on the distribution of the gasdynamic parameters in the shock layer. This problem has been considered from different points of view by many authors. A rather complete review of these studies is presented in [1–4].In earlier studies [5, 6] the approximation of bulk emission was used. In this approximation, in order to account for the effect of radiative heat transfer a term is added in the energy equation which is equivalent to the body efflux, whose magnitude depends on the local thermodynamic state of the gas. However, the use of this assumption to solve the problem of inviscid flow past a blunt body leads to a singularity at the body [7, 8]. To eliminate the singularity, account is taken of the radiation absorption in a narrow wall layer [7], or the concept of a viscous and heat-conductive shock layer is used [8]. A further refinement was obtained by Rumynskii, who considered radiation selectivity and studied the flow of a radiating and absorbing gas in the vicinity of the forward stagnation point of a blunt body.In the present paper we study the distribution of the gasdynamic parameters in the shock layer over the entire frontal surface of a blunt body in a hypersonic flow of a radiating and absorbing gas with account for radiation selectivity.     

Investigation of the influence of blowing on the flow in a hypersonic viscous shock layer near the stagnation streamline on a blunt body

In the framework of the approximation of local similarity to the Navier-Stokes equations, an investigation is made of the axisymmetric flow of homogeneous gas in a hypersonic shock layer, this including the region of transition through the shock wave. Boundary conditions, which take into account blowing of gas, are specified on the surface of the body and in the undisturbed flow. A numerical solution to the problem is obtained in a wide range of variation of the Reynolds number and the blowing parameter. Expressions are found for the dependences on the blowing parameter usually employed in boundary layer theory of the coefficients of friction and heat transfer on the surface of the body, which are divided by their values obtained for blowing parameter equal to zero. It is shown that these dependences are universal and the same as the dependences obtained from the solution of the equations of a hypersonic viscous shock layer with modified Rankin-Hugoniot relations across the shock wave and from the solution of the boundary layer equations.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 199–202, January–February, 1980.     

Asymptotic solution of the euler equations in the shock layer on a blunt body in nonuniform flow with gas injection from the body surface

Supersonic nonuniform gas flow over blunt bodies without surface injection has previously been investigated by both numerical [1–3] and experimental [3] methods. The processes of surface vaporization under the influence of an intense heat flux, artificial gas injection and surface combustion [4] are all worthy of study. The problem of the interaction between a nonuniform supersonic flow and a body in the presence of intense gas injection from the surface is examined and an analytical solution is constructed.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 6, pp. 126–134, November–December, 1989.     

Second approximation in the problem of the strong viscous interaction on slender three-dimensional bodies

We consider the hypersonic flow of a perfect gas past a slender three-dimensional body in a regime of strong viscous interaction. We give equations which make it possible to reduce the problem of determining the aerodynamic characteristics of a body which is not axisymmetric to the problem of computing the flow past an equivalent body of rotation at zero angle of incidence. The second approximation for the heat transfer and drag coefficients is found by the method of external and internal combinations of asymptotic expansions. The region in which this method can be applied and the accuracy of the asymptotic theory are estimated by comparison with exact numerical computations.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti, i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 107–113, September–October, 1970.     

Comparison of approximate analytical and numerical solutions for heat fluxes in viscous supersonic flow past a body

The axisymmetric supersonic laminar flow of a viscous perfect gas past a blunt body is studied over a wide range of Reynolds and Mach numbers. An approximate analytical solution for the distribution of the heat flux, divided by its value at the stagnation point, over the body surface is derived. The expression for the relative heat flux depends only on the body geometry and the pressure distribution over the body surface. To evaluate the accuracy and the range of validity of the formulas obtained, a comparison with numerical solutions of the complete Navier-Stokes equations was carried out for bodies of various shapes, such as spheres, ellipsoids, and paraboloids.Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 125–132, January–February, 1996.     

Method of mean-mass parameters for a three-dimensional boundary layer in a flow with vorticity

When a gas flows with hypersonic velocity over a slender blunt body, the bow shock induces large entropy gradients and vorticity near the wall in the disturbed flow region (in the high-entropy layer) [1]. The boundary layer on the body develops in an essentially inhomogeneous inviscid flow, so that it is necessary to take into account the difference between the values of the gas parameters on the outer edge of the boundary layer and their values on the wall in the inviscid flow. This vortex interaction is usually accompanied by a growth in the frictional stress and heat flux at the wall [2, 3]. In three-dimensional flows in which the spreading of the gas on the windward sections of the body causes the high-entropy layer to become narrower, the vortex interaction can be expected to be particularly important. The first investigations in this direction [4–6] studied the attachment lines of a three-dimensional boundary layer. The method proposed in the present paper for calculating the heat transfer generalizes the approach realized in [5] for the attachment lines and makes it possible to take into account this effect on the complete surface of a blunt body for three-dimensional laminar, transition, or turbulent flow regime in the boundary layer.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 80–87, January–February, 1981.     

Distribution of radiant heat fluxes over the surface of three-dimensional and axisymmetric bodies in a supersonic ideal-gas flow

Numerous studies have been devoted to the calculation of supersonic radiating flow past bodies (see the bibliography in [1, 2]). In almost all these studies the gas flows investigated are plane or axisymmetric. Three-dimensional flows, however, have received little attention. The flow of air past three-dimensional bodies was considered in [3], where the chief object was to investigate the accuracy with which a real radiating volume can be simulated by the widely used plane-layer approximation. In [4] the flow of a hydrogen-helium mixture past three-dimensional bodies was investigated in the hypersonic approximation in the neighborhood of the stagnation point and in two planes of symmetry with allowance for the screening of the radiation of vaporized material.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 92–97, January–February, 1986.The authors wish to thank V. V. Lunev for his useful observations and advice.     

Similarity of three-dimensional and axisymmetric chemically-nonequilibrium flows in the neighborhood of a plane of symmetry

Three-dimensional chemically-nonequilibrium flow past blunt bodies in the neighborhood of the plane of symmetry is investigated within the framework of viscous shock layer theory. The similarity of three-dimensional and axisymmetric flows, previously established in [1] for a uniform gas, is extended to chemically-nonequilibrium gas flows. It is shown that the problem of determining the heat fluxes and friction stress in the neighborhood of the line of flow divergence can be reduced to the problem of determining these quantities for the axisymmetric body. The validity of the axisymmetric analogy is verified by carrying out numerical calculations for bodies of different shapes re-entering the earth's atmosphere along a gliding trajectory. Various models of surface catalytic activity are considered. The use of similarity relations makes it possible to apply existing programs for calculating axisymmetric flows to the solution of three-dimensional problems.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 115–120, March–April, 1990.     

Laminar boundary layer on swept-back wings of infinite span at an angle of attack

A study is made of the flow of a compressible gas in a laminar boundary layer on swept-back wings of infinite span in a supersonic gas flow at different angles of attack. The surface is assumed to be either impermeable or that gas is blown or sucked through it. For this flow and an axisymmetric flow an analytic solution to the problem is obtained in the first approximation of an integral method of successive approximation. For large values of the blowing or suction parameters, asymptotic solutions are found for the boundary layer equations. Some results of numerical solution of the problem obtained by the finite-difference method are given for wings of various shapes in a wide range of angles characterizing the amount by which the wings are swept back and also the blowing or suction parameters. A numerical solution is obtained for the equations of the three-dimensional mixing layer formed in the case of strong blowing of gas from the surface of the body. The analytic and numerical solutions are compared and the regions of applicability of the analytic expressions are estimated. On the basis of the solutions obtained in the present paper and studies of other authors a formula is proposed for the calculation of the heat fluxes to a perfectly catalytic surface of swept-back wings in a supersonic flow of dissociated and ionized air at different angles of attack. Flow over swept-back wings at zero angle of attack has been considered earlier (see, for example, [1–4]) in the theory of a laminar boundary layer. In [5], a study was made of flow over swept-back wings at nonzero angle of attack at small and moderate Reynolds numbers in the framework of the theory of a hypersonic viscous shock layer.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 27–39, May–June, 1980.We thank G. A. Tirskii for a helpful discussion of the results.     

Experimental investigation of supersonic flow past blunt bodies with strong distributed injection

The entry of bodies into planetary atmospheres at high supersonic velocities is accompanied by intense evaporation of the surface due to radiative heat fluxes. A series of problems involving the conduction of investigations of such kind has been proposed by Petrov. In [1], in particular, the entry of a meteorite into an atmosphere was examined. The gasdynamic aspects of this problem have been approximately simulated by many authors by intense injection of gas in theoretical, e.g., [2–5], and experimental [6, 7] studies. The theoretical studies were based on two-layer [3, 4] or three-layer [5] schemes of gas flow between the shock wave and the surface of the body. The aim of the present work was an experimental investigation of the interaction of injection with a counter supersonic flow.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 3, pp. 84–95, May–June, 1978.