Physicochemical Model of Hypersonic Rarefied Gas Flow past Bodies

The effect of the internal molecular degrees of freedom on the flow field and heat transfer in hypersonic rarefied gas flow past a cylinder or sphere is investigated using the direct statistical simulation (Monte-Carlo) method. The variable-diameter rough spherical molecule model (VRS-model) is generalized to include the case of energy exchange between the translational and vibrational degrees of freedom. The interaction between diatomic molecules with allowance for vibrational degrees of freedom is simulated as the interaction of classical or quantum-mechanical harmonic and anharmonic oscillators in the external force approximation. A model of the dissociation of a diatomic gas is proposed.