Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 January 2016
Hypersonic laminar flow past a compression corner has been numerically investigated using time-accurate computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach. Two flow conditions were considered relevant to high and low enthalpy conditions with a total specific enthalpy of 19MJ/kg and 2·8MJ/kg. The Mach number and unit Reynolds number per metre were 7·5, 9·1 and 3·10 × 105 and 32·2 × 105 respectively. These free stream conditions provided attached, incipiently separated and fully separated flows for ramp angles between θw = 5° to 24°. A grid independence study has been carried out to estimate the sensitivity of heat flux and skin friction in the strong interaction regions of the flow. The investigation was carried out assuming the flow to be laminar throughout and high temperature effects such as thermal and chemical nonequilibrium are studied using Park’s two temperature model with finite rate chemistry. A critical comparison has been made with existing steady state computational and experimental data and the study has highlighted the importance of high temperature effects on the flow separation and reattachment.