A Study of High Altitude Hypersonic Flow-Field Radiation

This paper presents the results of the works carried out jointly at Stanford University and Ames Research Center under a grant from the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization (BMDO) (formerly the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization) to explain and understand the results of the two flight experiments, Bow Shock Ultra-Violet 1 and Bow Shock Ultra-Violet 2, carried out by the Organization. A portion of the material contained in this paper has been reported elsewhere in open literature. However, this paper provides (1) the details of scientific contents not available in those literature, (2) the links among those and the logical order of the efforts involved, and (3) some materials not contained in any open literature. The first author is responsible for execution of the work; the second author directed the work of the first author. In the two flight experiments mentioned above, the spectra of radiation in the ultraviolet wavelength range incident on the stagnation point of a blunt body were measured at the flight speeds of 3.8 and 5.2 km/sec over a wide range of altitudes. The results were compared first with the calculations made using the original version of the NEQAIR/STRAP codes written earlier by the second author. At low altitudes, the calculations agreed with the measurement. However, at high altitudes, the calculations underestimated the intensity of the radiation by several orders of magnitudes. A shock tube experiment was carried out at CALSPAN and a plasma-torch experiment was carried out at Stanford University to produce experimental data to help explain the discrepancy. In addition, the shock tube experiment at Ames Research Center carried out independently of the BMDO was also found to be relevant to this question. In this paper, several theoretical models are developed and calculations using the models were carried out to explain the results not only of the flight experiments but also of the CALSPAN, Stanford, and Ames experiments. The are: (1) the diffusion model for the rotational mode to explain the slowness of rotational excitation, (2) assignment of different vibrational temperatures and different relaxation rates for different molecules, and (3) the modification of the NEQAIR code to accommodate the new experimental data. This paper shows that the discrepancy between the flight data and calculation is smaller with the present model, but is still substantial.