Similitude requirements for hypersonic, rarefied, nonequilibrium flow

Similitude requirements for hypersonic, rarefied flow with nonequilibrium chemistry and vibration are presented. The full Navier-Stokes equations with catalytic or noncatalytic walls and with or without slip conditions are nondimensionalized. The heat transfer coefficient is written in terms of fourteen dimensionless parameters and reduced to four by making the binary scaling assumption. Duplication of blunt and sharp nose heat transfer requires the use of air over a geometrically similar model with the same free stream velocity, wall temperature and product of free stream density and characteristic length. Estimates of this heat transfer coefficient are also presented.