A computer study of hypersonic laminar boundary-layer/shock-wave interaction using the time-dependent compressible Navier-Stokes equations

The results of an investigation of hypersonic laminar boundary layer shock wave interactions using the method of MacCormack to solve the time dependent compressible Navier-Stokes equations are presented. Comparisons of the numerical solutions with experimental data were made to ascertain the validity of the numerical method and to identify regions of anomalous behavior. The algorithm gave good results when applied to hypersonic laminar interactions that caused either small or no separated regions and marginal performance when applied to hypersonic laminar interactions having large regions of separated flow. The extents of the separated regions in interactions having large regions of separated flow were underpredicted when compared with experimental data. The predicted wall heat-transfer rates exhibited the correct qualitative trend but not the experimentally measured quantitative values.