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Ballistics Range Boundary-Layer Transition Measurements on Cones at Hypersonic Speeds

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Viscous Drag Reduction

Abstract

A series of tests have been conducted in the ballistics ranges at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory to investigate the effect of a number of parameters on the boundary-layer transition on conical bodies. The parameters investigated include Mach number, cone angle, nose bluntness, and ratio of wall-to-recovery temperature. The tests were conducted on 3-, 5-, 6.3-, and 9-degree half-angle cones. The test Mach number varied from 3 to 15, and the ambient range temperature from 80°F to 800°F. The free-stream 5 Reynolds number based on tip radius varied from near zero to 105.

The data show a stabilizing effect on the boundary layer as the free-stream Mach number is increased. In general, the increase in stability with increasing free-stream Mach number appears to be linear. However, when the data are viewed in terms of local properties, the local transition Reynolds number appears to increase with the 3.5 power of the local Mach number over the range investigated.

When the data are presented in terms of constant free-stream Mach number, it appears that the transition Reynolds number is a function of both the tip bluntness and cone angle. The data indicate that decreasing either the cone angle or the tip bluntness increases the transition Reynolds number. By presenting the data in terms of local Mach number, the transition Reynolds number appears to be independent of both the tip bluntness and cone angle.

The effect of the ratio of wall-to-recovery temperature was investigated at free-stream Mach numbers of 3, 5, and 8 on sharp 5-degree half-angle cones. Decreasing the temperature ratio produced a destabilizing effect at Mach numbers 3 and 8. A destabilizing effect was also obtained in the Mach number 5 tests at the higher temperature ratios investigated. However, at temperature ratios below approximately 0.13 it was observed that further decreases in temperature ratio stabilized the boundary layer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory, USA

    Norman W. Sheetz Jr.

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  1. Norman W. Sheetz Jr.
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. LTV Research Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

    C. Sinclair Wells

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© 1969 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Sheetz, N.W. (1969). Ballistics Range Boundary-Layer Transition Measurements on Cones at Hypersonic Speeds. In: Wells, C.S. (eds) Viscous Drag Reduction. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5579-1_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4899-5579-1_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4899-5581-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4899-5579-1

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