THE KINETICS OF PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROCESSES IN HIGH-TEMPERATURE AIR

In air, at temperatures of several tens of thousands of degrees, the characteristic times of dissociation and vibrational relaxation come to be equal, so that the decomposition of N-2 and O-2 molecules occurs under conditions of incomplete vibrational relaxation. Such conditions correspond, in particular, to strong shock waves formed in the forebody of a flying vehicle entering dense layers of the atmosphere. In order to correctly determine the kinetic and gas-dynamic characteristics of a gas, the equations of gas dynamics must be integrated simultaneously with the equations of chemical kinetics and vibrational relaxation, with due regard for their interference.