The laminar−turbulent transition (LTT) at hypersonic speeds is analyzed. The possibility of LTT generation via atmospheric turbulent velocity oscillations and solid microparticles is studied. Turbulence spectra and particle distributions are taken from unclassified publications. It is shown that atmospheric turbulence is not a dominant factor in second-mode excitation leading to the LTT under conditions of the HIFiRE-1 and Reentry F flight experiments. Microparticles can influence the boundary layer receptivity at flight altitudes of ~20 km. At higher altitude (>30 km), the microparticle concentration and/or diameter are too small to provide a considerable effect on the LTT.
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Pugach et al. (2016) studied this question.
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