Shock interference heat transfer to tank configurations mated to a straight-wing space shuttle orbiter at Mach number 10.3

Heat transfer was measured on a space shuttle-tank configuration with no mated orbiter in place and with the orbiter in 10 different mated positions. The orbiter-tank combination was tested at angles of attack of 0 deg and 5 deg, at a Mach number of 10.3, and at a free-stream Reynolds number of one million based on the length of the tank. Comparison of interference heat transfer with no-interference heat transfer shows that shock interference can increase the heat transfer to the tank by two orders of magnitude along the ray adjacent to the orbiter and can cause high temperature gradients along the tank skin. The relative axial location of the two mated vehicles determined the location of the sharp peaks of extreme heating as well as their magnitude. The other control variables (the angle of attack, the gap, and the cross-section shape) had significant effects that were not as consistent or as extreme.