Measured and calculated spectral radiation from a blunt body shock layer in an arc-jet wind tunnel

Spectra of the shock layer radiation incident on the stagnation point of a blunt body placed in an arc-jet wind tunnel were measured over the wavelength range from 600 nm to 880 nm. The test gas was a mixture of 80 percent air and 20 percent argon by mass, and the run was made in a highly nonequilibrium environment. The observed spectra contained contributions from atomic lines of nitrogen, oxygen, and argon, of bound-free and free-free continua, and band systems of N2 and N2(+). The measured spectra were compared with the synthetic spectra, which were obtained through four steps: the calculation of the arc-heater characteristics, of the nozzle flow, of the blunt-body flow, and the nonequilibrium radiation processes. The results show that the atomic lines are predicted approximately correctly, but all other sources are underpredicted by orders of magnitude. A possible explanation for the discrepancy is presented.