Heat Transfer Predictions in a Laminar Hypersonic Viscous/Inviscid Interaction

Resultsaredocumentedofablindvalidationstudytocharacterizetheaccuracyofanupwind-biasede nitevolume methodinpredictingthesurfaceloadscaused byalaminarviscous/inviscidinteraction.Theeffortsupportsarecent Research and Technology Organization code validation initiative and considers a benchmark cone guration of the Working Group 10, consisting of Mach 9.5 e owpast a 25/55 deg sharp-tipped doubleconeat a Reynolds number of 1.39435 £ 10 6 /m. Roe’ s e ux-difference splitting scheme is employed with a nominally third-order reconstruction method and harmonic limiting. An extensive iterative- and grid-convergencestudy is performed to ensure solution accuracy. Comparison with experimental data shows that overall the numerical method reproduces the features of the interaction, including location and extent of separation to a degree that may be characterized as adequate for engineering purposes. However, upstream of separation and in the narrow peak heating region, discrepancies in heat transfer rates between computation and experiment range between 10 and 15% of maximum values. An exploration of the sensitivity of the solution to small variations (up to 10%) in several e ow and numerical parameters reveals only modest ine uence on the nondimensionalized quantities.