Stagnation Point of a Blunt Body in Hypersonic Flow

A method of calculation is presented which yields all the important information on the inviscid hypersonic flow in the stagnation point region of a blunt body in hypersonic flow. It is demonstrated that Hayes' results (Hypersonic Flow Fields at Small Density Ratio, RAMO, Wooldridge Corporation, May 1955) are valid in the stagnation point region and can indeed be considered as a basis for constructing less restricted solutions. Equations are presented giving velocity, pressure, detachment distance, and vorticity. The valves of shock detachment distance and body pressure coefficient are compared with experimental data for spheres. The pressure comparison shows that the results of Hayes and the present theory represent a better approximation than the Newtonian impact theory for hypersonic Mach numbers. (Author)