| Abstract: | With reduction of the density in a hypersonic stream the transition of the flow from continuum to free molecule takes place gradually. The transition region may be divided into several regimes, in each of which a definite physical phenomenon is most significant. For the case of the flow in the vicinity of the forward stagnation point of a blunt body these phenomena include increase of the thickness of the detached shock wave and of the boundary layer, the presence of viscous flow in the entire disturbed layer ahead of the blunt body, reduction of the number of collisions between molecules and the associated relaxation effects, the increasing role of the interaction of the stream molecules with the surface, and the phenomena of slip and temperature jump. |
