Hypersonic Shock-Wave/Boundary-Layer Interactions on the ROTEX-T Cone/Flare
Jonathan Davami, Thomas J. Juliano, Anton Scholten, Pedro Paredes
Abstract
View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2023-1436.vid Background-oriented schlieren and infrared thermography measurements were made simultaneously on a ROTEX-T cone/flare model in the AFOSR–Notre Dame Large Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel at freestream unit Reynolds numbers from 5.8 to 12.1 M/m and nominally zero angle of attack. The surface heat-flux and Stanton number distributions were computed. Separation and reattachment locations were determined from Stanton number profiles and density fields. For a laminar boundary layer, the surface and off-wall determinations of separation and reattachment correspond well. For a transitional boundary layer, the off-wall measurements clarify otherwise ambiguous separation assessments from surface measurements. The convective and global boundary-layer instabilities of the axisymmetric laminar flow at the experimental conditions were investigated computationally. Amplification of Mack’s first and second modes with a logarithmic amplification factor of 5 to 7.5 are observed at the separation location, depending on the conditions. The flow is found to be globally unstable to stationary three-dimensional disturbances concentrated in the reattachment region. Wavelengths of the experimentally observed streamwise streaks on the flare were quantified and agreed well with predictions by global stability analysis.