Investigation of surface pressure distribution and heat flux on re entry vehicle using shock tunnel

Abstract

Heat transfer rate and surface pressure distributions are important parameters in the design of hypersonic bodies like reentry vehicles and ballistic missiles that enter the earths atmosphere at hypersonic speeds A vehicle operating at hypersonic Mach number experiences aerodynamic heating as a result of the temperature gradient through the boundary layer that surrounds it This temperature gradient is produced by the conversion of newlinekinetic energy into heat by viscous forces within the boundary layer and is affected by the local wall temperature The aerodynamic heating will increase the surface temperature of the vehicle skin Accurate measurement of this heating rate is required to design the thermal protection system TPS for vehicles to protect the payload Surface pressure distribution is a significant parameter which influences the aerodynamic drag therefore it needs to be measured Experiments have been carried out with air as the test gas to obtain the surface convective heating rate and surface pressure distribution on blunt models flying at hypersonic speeds newline newline newline