Book Description

Significant contributions were made in a four-year interdisciplinary experimental, numerical and theoretical program to extend the state of knowledge and understanding of the effects of chemical reactions in hypervelocity flows. The program addressed the key problems in aerothermochemistry that arise from the interaction between the three strongly nonlinear effects: Compressibility; vorticity; and chemistry. Results included: (1) Discovery of dramatic damping effects of nonequilibrium vibration and chemistry on transition in hypervelocity flows; (2) Proper formulation of parameters for reacting blunt-body flows. (3) Effects of nonequilibrium chemistry in shock-on-shock interaction; (4) New experiments on, and correlation with theory of high-enthalpy flap-induced separation; (5) Computations of interaction of a shock wave with density interfaces and with compressible Hill's spherical vortex; (6) Extensive clarification of phenomena in supersonic shear flows using new diagnostic and computational tools; (7) New experiments and computations of hypervelocity double-one flow yielded insights into vibration-dissociation coupling; (8) First-principles computations of electron collision cross-sections with diatomic molecules and CO2; and (9) Development of new diagnostic technique LITA for accurate non-intrusive point measurement of gas properties.