Computation of flowfields for hypersonic flight at high altitudes

Abstract

Recent direct simulation Monte Carlo methods are reviewed focusing on the nonequilibrium aspects of rarefied hypersonic flows typical of reentry conditions. The calculations identify the altitudes for which the onset of dissociation occurs, the magnitude of the surface temperature variations, the effect of the shock wave structure on the chemistry of a dissociating gas, and the radiation emisssion for reentry flowfields.