| Issue |
Volume 7, 2015
Progress in Flight Physics – Volume 7
|
|
|---|---|---|
| Page(s) | 113 - 122 | |
| Section | Experimental facilities | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/eucass/201507113 | |
| Published online | 08 June 2015 | |
OFF-Stagnation point testing in plasma facility
Von Karman Institute (VKI) 72 Chaussée de Waterloo, Rhode-Saint-Genèse 1640, Belgium
Reentry space vehicles face extreme conditions of heat flux when interacting with the atmosphere at hypersonic velocities. Stagnation point heat flux is normally used as a reference for Thermal Protection Material (TPS) design; however, many critical phenomena also occur at off-stagnation point. This paper adresses the implementation of an offstagnation point methodology able to duplicate in ground facility the hypersonic boundary layer over a flat plate model. The first analysis using two-dimensional (2D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations is carried out to understand the limitations of this methodology when applying it in plasma wind tunnel. The results from the testing campaign at VKI Plasmatron are also presented.
© Owned by the authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2015