48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition AIAA 2010-991

4 - 7 January 2010, Orlando, Florida

Reducing Aerodynamic Heating by the Opposing Jet in

Supersonic and Hypersonic Flows

Isao Tamada1, Shigeru Aso2 and Yasuhiro Tani3

Kyushu University, Fukuoka, 819-0395, Japan

The opposing jet is proposed for aerodynamic heat reduction. In this study, the opposing
jet has been applied to three nose configurations including the ogive body, the hemispherical
nose cylinder and the ogive body with the extended nozzle, to investigate the effects of nose
configuration for the opposing jet. Numerical studies have been implemented for the
supersonic flow at M∞ = 3.98, and for the hypersonic flow at M∞ = 8.0. Consequently, the
opposing jet reduces aerodynamic heating both in supersonic and hypersonic flows. The
results also shows that there is a direct correlation between the nose configuration and the
thermal protection effect of the opposing jet, and of all three configurations, the extended
nozzle model is found to be the most efficient configuration. In addition, detail flow field
analysis revealed that distinct correlations exist between shock stand-off distance and the
momentum ratio, and between local maximum heat flux and local Reynolds number at the
reattachment point for the cases of turbulent flow reattachment. As a conclusion, it has been
found that recompressed shock management and local Reynolds number management are
essential in order to reduce aerodynamic heating by the opposing jet.

Nomenclature
p0∞ = freestream total pressure [MPa]
p∞ = freestream static pressure [MPa]
pstag,∞ = stagnation pressure behind the detached shock of the freestream [MPa]
p0j = total pressure of the opposing jet [MPa]
pj = static pressure of the opposing jet at the nozzle exit [MPa]
M∞ = freestream Mach number
Mj = Mach number of the opposing jet
T0∞ = freestream total temperature [K]
T0j = total temperature of the opposing jet [K]
Tw = wall temperature [K]
qw = heat flux into the wall [W/m2]
Rj = jet orifice radius [mm]
Rnose = radius of the nose tip [mm]
dSF = distance from the nose tip to the shock front on the axis[mm]
s = distance from the nose tip along the wall [mm]
Re = Reynolds number based on the model diameter

I. Introduction

I N designing Reusable Launch Vehicles (RLVs), aerodynamic heating is one of the most important problems to be
cared because significantly high aerodynamic heating due to the strong shock waves damages the RLVs body at
the reentry stage. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a suitable Thermal Protection System (TPS) for such a
challenging circumstance. Thermal protection systems are classified into two categories; passive methods and active
methods. Among active methods, the opposing jet has been studied by the previous works1 - 5. Fig.1 shows the
general flow field of the opposing jet. Aerodynamic heating reduction is achieved by the cold recirculation region

1
Graduate Student, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyushu University.
2
Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyushu University, AIAA Senior Member.
3
Associate Professor, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Kyushu University, AIAA Member.
1
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Copyright © 2010 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. All rights reserved.