The Rarefied Hypersonic Blunt Body Problem

Abstract

The present paper is concerned with shockwave and viscous-layer structures ahead of a blunt body in a rarefied hypersonic flow. The analysis is within the framework of the continuum theory, based on the two-layer flow model.
The solution for viscous layer is found to be matched with the solution for shock wave at the outer edge of viscous layer or at the downstream limit of shock wave. The profiles of flow variables, thus obtained, across the shock wave and viscous layer are found to be in a fairly good agreement with the results obtained, respectively, by LEVINSKY-YOSHIHARA and by KAO based on the method of full numerical integration for the NAVIER-STOKES equations. Furthermore some of characteristic features of the flow behavior due to rarefaction effects have been clarified by the analysis.