MONTE-CARLO SIMULATION OF A NEAR-CONTINUUM SHOCK-SHOCK INTERACTION PROBLEM

A complex shock interaction is calculated with direct simulation Monte Carlo. The calculation is performed for the type IV shock-interaction pattern produced when an incident shock impinges on the bow shock of a 0.1-in.-radius cowl lip for freestream conditions of Mach 15 and app roximately 35-km altitude. Solutions are presented for a case without chemical reactions and for a full finite-rate chemistry calculation. I n each case, both undisturbed flow about the cowl lip and the full sho ck-interaction flowfields are calculated. The differences in calculate d surface properties relative to the cases with and without chemical r eactions demonstrate the necessity of properly modeling the flowfield chemistry when using the analysis to predict design requirements. Prel iminary grid-sensitivity studies indicate that the heat transfer predi ctions are conservative.