Table Of ContentTHERMOPHYSICSOF
ATMOSPHERIC ENTRY
Edited by
T. E. Norton
Department of Mechanical Engineering
The University of Mississippi, University, Mississippi
Volume 82
PROGRESS IN
ASTRONAUTICS AND AERONAUTICS
Martin Summerfield, Series Editor-in-Chief
Princeton Combustion Research Laboratories, Inc.
Princeton, New Jersey
Technical papers from the AIAA 19th Aerospace Sciences Meeting, January 1981,
and the AIAA 16th Thermophysics Conference, June 1981, and subsequently
revised for this volume.
Published by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.
1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y 10104.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.
New York, New York
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Main entry under title:
Thermophysics of atmospheric entry.
(Progress in astronautics and aeronautics; v. 82)
Technical papers from the AIAA 19th Aerospace Sciences Meeting,
January 1981, and the AIAA 16th Thermophysics Conference, June
1981.
Includes index.
1. Space vehicles—Atmospheric entry—Congresses. 2. Space
vehicles—Thermodynamics—Congresses. I. Horton, T.E. (Thomas E.)
II. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. III. AIAA
Aerospace Sciences Meeting (19th: 1981: St. Louis, Mo.) IV. AIAA
Thermophysics Conference (16th: 1981: Palo Alto, Calif.) V. Series.
TL507.P75 vol. 82 [TL1060] 629.1s 82-6686
ISBN 0-915928-66-3 [629.47*152] AACR2
Copyright ©1982 by
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying,
recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Table of Contents
Preface............................................. vii
Editorial Committee .................................. xii
List of Series Volumes 1-83 ............................ xiii
Chapter I. Thermophysical Properties .................... 1
Numerical Calculation of Gaseous Transport Properties
from the Hulburt-Hirschfelder Potential with Applications
to Planetary Entry Thermal Protection....................... 3
J.C. Rainwater, National Bureau of Standards, Boulder, Colo., and P.M.
Holland and L. Biolsi, University of Colorado/NOAA, Boulder, Colo.
Transport Properties for a Mixture of the Ablation Products C, C ,
2
and C ............................................... 17
3
L. Biolsi, J. Fenton, and B. Owenson, University of Missouri-Rolla,
Rolla, Mo.
Transport Properties Associated with Entry into the Atmosphere
of Titan.............................................. 37
B. Flori and L. Biolsi, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, Mo.
Thermal Conductivity of Partially Ionized Gas Mixtures.......... 53
B.F. Armaly, University of Missouri-Rolla, Rolla, Mo., and K. Sutton,
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
Optical Absorption of Carbon and Hydrocarbon Species from
Shock-Heated Acetylene and Methane in the 135-220 nm
Wavelength Range...................................... 68
J.L. Shinn, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
Chapter II. Aerothermodynamics ....................... 81
Nondimensional Parameters in Radiation Gasdynamics........... 83
R. Goulard, George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
Blunt-Body Turbulent Boundary-Layer Parameters Including
Shock Swallowing Effects ................................ 90
B.J. Griffith and B.M. Majors, Arvin/Calspan, Arnold Air Force
Station, Tenn., and J.C. Adams Jr., Sverdrup Technology, Inc.,
Tullahoma, Tenn.
IV
A Study of a Boundary-Layer Trip Concept
at Hypersonic Speeds................................... 112
D.E. Nestler, General Electric Company, Philadelphia, Pa., and W.D.
McCauley, TR W Defense and Space Systems Group, Redondo Beach,
Calif.
Low-Temperature Ablator Tests for Shape-Stable Nosetip
Applications on Maneuvering Re-entry Vehicles .............. 148
W.S. Kobayashi and J.L. Saperstein, Acurex Corporation, Mountain
View, Calif.
The Hypersonic Flowfield over a Re-entry Vehicle Indented-Nose
Configuration ........................................ 177
A.M. Morrison, W.J. Yanta, and R.L.P. Voisinet, Naval Surface
Weapons Center, White Oak, Silver Spring, Md.
Ablation and Deceleration of Mass Driver-Launched Projectiles
for Space Disposal of Nuclear Wastes. ..................... 201
C. Park, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.,
and S.W. Bo wen, Beam Engineering, Sunny vale, Calif.
Chapter III. Space Shuttle Studies...................... 227
Approximate Heating Analysis for the Windward Symmetry Plane
of Shuttle-like Bodies at Large Angle of Attack .............. 229
E.V. Zoby, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
Catalytic Surface Effects Experiment on the Space Shuttle ....... 248
D.A. Stewart and J.V. Rakich, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, Calif., and M.J. Lanfranco, Informatics, Inc., Palo Alto, Calif.
Space Shuttle Laminar Heating with Finite-Rate Catalytic
Recombination........................................ 273
C.D. Scott, NASA Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas
Chapter IV. Galileo Studies........................... 291
Survey of the Supporting Research and Technology
for the Thermal Protection of the Galileo Probe ............. 293
J.T. Howe, W.C. Pitts, and J.H. Lundell, NASA Ames Research Center,
Moffett Field, Calif.
Galileo Probe Forebody Thermal Protection .................. 328
M.J. Green and W.C. Davy, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett
Field, Calif.
Significance of Turbulence and Transition Location
on Radiative Heating and Ablation Injection ................ 354
J.N. Moss, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.,
and A. Kumar, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va.
An Experimental Simulation of Massive Blowing from a Nosetip
During Jovian Entry ................................... 382
M.S. Holden, Calspan Corporation, Buffalo, N.Y.
Chapter V. Future Planetary Missions .................. 413
Trends in Unmanned Planetary Entry. ....................... 415
J.R. French, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of
Technology, Pasadena, Calif.
Analysis of Aerothermodynamic Environment of a
Titan Aerocapture Vehicle............................... 430
S.N. Tiwari and H. Chow, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Va.,
and J.N. Moss, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Va.
Optimization of Aerobraked Orbital Transfer Vehicles .......... 455
D.G. Andrews and V.A. Caluori, Boeing Aerospace Company, Seattle,
Wash., and F. Bloetscher, Goodyear Aerospace Corporation, Akron,
Ohio
Aerothermodynamic Design Feasibility of a Generic Planetary
Aerocapture/Aeromaneuver Vehicle ....................... 477
D.E. Florence, General Electric Company, Philadelphia, Pa.
Author Index for Volume 82 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 521
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Preface
Thermophysics represents a harmonious blend of the classical
engineering sciences of materials, thermofluids, heat transfer, and
electromagnetic theory with the microsciences of solid state,
physical optics, and atomic and molecular dynamics. The impetus
for the formation of a thermophysics community during the
predawn of the " space age" was the need for a science/technology
base which could cope with the thermal management problems
encountered in the early satellites and in ballistic re-entry. During
the past two decades the thermophysics community has met ever-
increasing mission requirements for more effective space systems, as
well as the demands of transfer of these technologies to terrestrial
energy problems. Today and in the near future we see a continuation
of the challenges in the thermophysics field presented by entry
systems, spacecraft thermal control, and laser technology.
This volume is devoted to the science and technology of at-
mosphere entry systems. From the perspective of current major
project activity, this field can be divided into three areas. First is the
area of strategic systems, which is concerned with the refinement
and improvement of ballistic entry systems. Second is the area of
manned re-entry systems, which is currently centered on the Space
Shuttle Orbiter. The third project area is the Galileo Probe of the
Jovian atmosphere. All of these areas can be viewed as depending
upon the answers to a series of common questions—the questions
being the basis of the science of thermophysics. Although the
questions are common, the answers are not redundant as each area
of application represents a different range of parameters and thus
different dominant phenomena.
The volume presents a view of timely advances in atmospheric
entry thermophysics, which was drawn from over 160 papers which
were contributed to thermophysics sessions at the AIAA 19th
Aerospace Sciences Meeting in St. Louis, Missouri in January 1981,
and the AIAA 16th Thermophysics Conference in Palo Alto,
California in June 1981. These papers have been revised, updated,
and organized into five coherent chapters which treat thermo-
physical properties, aerothermodynamics, Space Shuttle studies,
Galileo studies, and future planetary missions.
vii
VIM
The first chapter deals with the characterization of the transport
properties, both kinetic and radiative, of the high-temperature
species found in the shock layer of ablative entry bodies. Although
this material transcends specific applications, the questions ad-
dressed by these authors will be of immediate value in the design of
ablating probes for use in entry missions to the outer planets. The
kinetic transport properties of gaseous mixtures are determined by
binary collision integrals, which are functions of the interaction
potentials of the collision partners. In the first paper of this chapter,
Rainwater, Holland, and Biolsi discuss revised integrals based upon
spectroscopic data and Hulburt-Hirschfelder interaction potentials.
These revisions have been incorporated into the computed transport
properties of carbonaceous ablation products over an extensive
range of temperatures by Biolsi, Fenton, and Owenson. Further
tabulations of computed viscosity, conductivity, and diffusion
coefficients for high-temperature species composed of nitrogen,
carbon, and hydrogen are presented in the third paper by Flori and
Biolsi. Calculations of transport properties of the complex high-
temperature mixture typical of a shock layer requires extensive
computational time and storage capacity—items which are in short
supply when performing a flowfield determination. Thus, accurate
procedures for approximating transport properties are a necessity.
Armaly and Sutton had previously presented an effective ap-
proximation for the viscosity of a mixture, and in the fourth paper
they present a companion approximation for the translational
thermal conductivity of high-temperature ionized mixtures. In the
final paper, Shinn reports on absorption spectroscopy experiments
in a shock tube, confirming the oscillator strength of the uv ab-
sorption band of C , an ablation layer species which blocks shock-
3
layer radiation in outer planetary entry.
Chapter II treats the assorted hypersonic gasdynamic problems
which comprise the field of aerothermodynamics. The range of
parameters addressed in this chapter correspond to those en-
countered in ballistic re-entry. In the first paper, Goulard explores
nondimensional parameters, which may prove to be of value in
correlating both radiation cooling of the shock layer and radiation
blockage of the ablative layer which can serve as the basis of simple
engineering models for estimating stagnation-point radiative heating
for the severe environment of outer planetary entry missions.
Correlations of convective surface parameters for spherically
blunted cones are presented by Griffith, Majors, and Adams. These
IX
correlations for zero angle of attack resulted from computer ex-
periments in which cone geometry, freestream Mach number, and
ratios of wall-to-stagnation temperature are varied. In the third
paper, Nestler and McCauley report a correlation for predicting the
tripping of a boundary layer by positioning an array of three-
dimensional roughness elements on spherically blunted cones.
Axisymmetric boundary-layer transition can induce shape changes
which induce further flow asymmetries. The result is a significant
loss in vehicle targeting accuracy. The next two papers present data
pertinent to this shape change problem. Kobayashi and Saperstein
report on a series of wind-tunnel tests which simulate re-entry
trajectories, using several low-temperature ablator (camphor) model
configurations. Morrison, Yanta, and Voisinet present a com-
prehensive compilation of flowfield data for the severely indented
body, which is indicative of the shape to which some vehicles evolve
during re-entry. The final paper by Park and Bo wen represents an
intriguing terrestrial mission—the projection of an ablative body to
escape velocity by a ground-based mass driver. For such a mission,
extreme shock-layer temperatures and pressures are encountered at
low altitudes.
The successful completion of the first re-entry flight of the Space
Shuttle Orbiter marks a significant achievement in thermal
protection design. Chapter III is devoted to thermal performance
studies associated with this system. In the first paper, Zoby presents
a relatively simple technique for computing convective heating rates
on large angle-of-attack bodies. The reliability of the technique is
demonstrated by comparison with more rigorous treatments and
data from model studies. The approach extends previous work by
the author by representing variations along a plane of symmetry
using the "equivalent axisymmetric body" concept. The next two
papers deal with the question of catalytic efficiency of the thermal
protection tiles. Because of the uncertainties in the high-temperature
catalytic efficiency, designs have not taken full advantage of the
reduced heating expected with a noncatalytic glassy surface. Stewart
and Rakich describe both ground test and flight experiments in
which side-by-side measurements of the noncatalytic and catalytic
overcoated surfaces can be compared. In the third paper, Scott
reports on calculations of heating rates based upon temperature-
dependent surface recombination coefficients.
The extreme heating anticipated with the Galileo Probe of the
atmosphere of Jupiter represents a severe test of thermal protection
