Non‐equilibrium viscous shock‐layer technique for computing hypersonic flow around blunt‐nosed slender bodies

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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a non‐equilibrium viscous shock layer (VSL) solution procedure that considerably improves computational efficiency, especially for long slender bodies.Design/methodology/approachThe VSL equations are solved in a shock oriented coordinate system. The method of solution is spatial marching, implicit, finite‐difference technique, which includes coupling of the normal momentum and continuity equations. In the nose region, the shock shape is specified from an algebraic expression and corrected through global passes through that region. The shock shape is computed as part of the solution beyond the nose region and requires only a single global pass. For this study, a seven‐species (O2, N2, O, N, NO, NO+, e−) air model is used.FindingsThe present approach eliminates the need for initial shock shape, which was required by previous method of solution. This method generates its own shock shape as a part of solution and the input shock shape obtained from a different solution is not required. Therefore, in comparison with the other VSL methods, the present approach dramatically reduces the CPU time of calculations. Moreover, by using the shock oriented coordinate systems the junction point problem in sphere‐cone configurations is solved.Practical implicationsThis method is an excellent tool for parametric study and preliminary design of hypersonic vehicles.Originality/valueThe present method provides a computational capability which reduces the CPU time, and expands the range of application for the prediction of hypersonic heating rates.