The applicability of continuum models in the transitional regime of hypersonic flow over blunt bodies

Hypersonic rarefied gas flow over blunt bodies in the transitional flow regime (from continuum to free-molecule) is investigated. Asymptotically correct boundary conditions on the body surface are derived for the full and thin viscous shock layer models. The effect of taking into account the slip velocity and the temperature jump in the boundary condition along the surface on the extension of the limits of applicability of continuum models to high free-stream Knudsen numbers is investigated. Analytic relations are obtained, by an asymptotic method, for the heat transfer coefficient, the skin friction coefficient and the pressure as functions of the free-stream parameters and the geometry of the body in the flow field at low Reynolds number; the values of these coefficients approach their values in free-molecule flow (for unit accommodation coefficient) as the Reynolds number approaches zero. Numerical solutions of the thin viscous shock layer and full viscous shock layer equations, both with the no-slip boundary conditions and with boundary conditions taking into account the effects slip on the surface are obtained by the implicit finite-difference marching method of high accuracy of approximation. The asymptotic and numerical solutions are compared with the results of calculations by the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method for flow over bodies of different shape and for the free-stream conditions corresponding to altitudes of 75-150 km of the trajectory of the Space Shuttle, and also with the known solutions for the free-molecule flow regine. The areas of applicability of the thin and full viscous shock layer models for calculating the pressure, skin friction and heat transfer on blunt bodies, in the hypersonic gas flow are estimated for various free-stream Knudsen numbers. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.