Laminar flow past a sphere at high Mach number

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Laminar hypersonic flow past a sphere is examined on the basis of the constant-density approximation. The Navier-Stokes equations governing the flow are reduced to a nearly parabolic form so that backward influence is essentially eliminated. Two methods of solution are then used on the resulting equations. The first method is the so-called series-truncation method (local similarity), and the second method is an implicit finite-difference method. The solutions from the two methods are compared for various values of the shock Reynolds number. These solutions are also compared with Lighthill's inviscid constant-density solution for high-shock Reynolds number.