| Abstract: | Laws of similitude of hypersonic flows of monatomic gases have been obtained earlier from asymptotic analysis of the equations as S   and confirmed by experimental data and numerical results 1], For diatomic gases, dimensionless numbers have not been deduced by analyzing the equations but by general arguments based on analogy with monatomic gases; they were used to compare experimental and calculated results in 1–3]. In the present paper, dimensionless numbers are derived on the basis of model kinetic equations for a diatomic gas, and limits of their applicability are established. Numerical calculations confirm the exact and approximate laws of similitude and permit a comparison with experimental results. The influence of the laws of viscosity on the drag for a sphere as a function of the Reynolds number Re0 determined using the viscosity at the stagnation point is investigated.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 2, pp. 130–135, March–April, 1981. |
