Hypersonic heat-transfer and transition correlations for a roughened shuttle orbiter

The effect of roughness on the heat transfer distributions and the transition criteria for the windward pitch plane of the shuttle orbiter at an angle of attack of 30 deg was studied using data obtained in hypersonic wind tunnels. The heat transfer distributions and the transition locations for the roughened models were compared with the corresponding data for smooth models. The data were correlated using theoretical solutions for a nonsimilar, laminar boundary layer subject to two different flow field models for the orbiter.