Gas ionization in a viscous shock layer and the modeling of this process in a laboratory experiment

Gas ionization in a viscous shock layer under conditions of hypersonic flow past blunt bodies is investigated analytically and experimentally. A correlation parameter is proposed which makes it possible to generalize the results of the calculations and measurements of the electron concentration in the shock layer. Electron concentration distributions near blunt bodies are obtained for angle-of-attack flow. Some effects associated with the nonequilibrium nature of ionization are examined.