Bluntness Effects in Hypersonic Flow over Slender Cones and Wedges

Abstract

In hypersonic flow over slender bodies an important concern is the influence of nose bluntness on the viscous boundary layer behavior. This is particularly important in the consideration of boundary layer instability and transition. There exist numerous treatments, both theoretical and experimental on this subject. Representative excellent examples are [1] and [2] In this study we use the deviation from sharp–body theory of the heat flux distribution as obtained from computations of viscous perfect–gas flow over blunted slender bodies at zero incidence to estimate the point where the body has forgotten that it is blunt.

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