Non-equilibrium dissociating flows over curved surfaces

Abstract

The problem considered was that of the behaviour of a non - equilibrium flow behind a shock wave supported by a convex curved body in a hyper- ­ velocity freestream . A simple gas model was assured, taking into account the dissociation only of asymmetrical diatomic molecule , whilst the temperature in the shock layer was assumed to be small compared with the characteristic temperature of dissociation . The curvature of the stream ­ lines produces a negative pressure gradient along a streamline and the effect of this pressure gradient upon the reaction was studied. An approximate analytic solution was obtained, which shows that properties along a streamline are consistent with the assumption that the reaction proceeds independently of the pressure gradient initially , and after a short distance the gas may be considered non - reacting and the properties given by perfect gas relationships. The result was verified both with exact numerical integration of the relevant equations , and with some experimental results from a hyper velocity nitrogen flow over a circular cylinder.