Viscous Hypersonic Flow over a Body Flying Through a Thermal in the Atmosphere

Abstract

The free movement of a blunt slender body of revolution through a rising large-scale cloud of hot gas in the stratified atmosphere is investigated. An effective numerical method to determine the trajectory of the body is proposed. The method is based on the simultaneous solution of the flow and ballistic problems. The flow problem is solved by a highly economical (with respect to computer resources) method, which is based on the expansion in a small parameter (the angle of attack) (Tirskiy et al. 1992, 1994), in conjunction with the method of global iterations (Tirskiy et al. 1992, 1994). The proposed method allows to determine the aerodynamic coefficients, trajectory, and orientation of the body with a high accuracy. In addition, it minimizes the computer time needed to attain this accuracy. By this method it is determined how a raising cloud of hot gas influences on the trajectory, space orientation, and stability of the body. It is shown that the body can overturn when it goes through a low density raising cloud.