Aerodynamic heat transfer to RSI tile surfaces and gap intersections

Review of the results of aerothermal heating tests of a simulated reusable surface insulation (RSI) tile array, performed on the sidewall of a Mach-10 hypersonic tunnel. In particular, the heating characteristics of the tile array, such as they result from heating inside the tile-expansion-space providing gaps between individual tiles, are investigated. The results include the finding that heating on the upstream face of a tile is strongly affected by the interacting longitudinal gap flow.