Volume interchange factors for hypersonic vehicle wake radiation

Volume interchange factors are shown to be convenient in modeling the radiative processes in the wake of a hypersonic vehicle. Use of the factors facilitates calculating not just the radiative heating rates on afterbody surfaces but also the radiative de-excitation rates from stimulated emission and re-excitation rates from absorption in rarefied nonequilibrium flows. Sample calculations of volume interchange factors are presented for volume configurations modeling wake elements, and the numerical results are compared to limiting approximations to clarify the operation of the emission, transmission, and absorption processes.