Validation study of blunted and sharp cones at hypersonic speed

The circular cone shaped nose has been the prime interest of study for high speed aerodynamics for quite some time. It is the fundamental shape which most general forebody designs are derived from. Besides from its simplicity, the flow field it produces can be easily studied since the flow is conical in nature. This study aims at investigating blunted and sharp cones in the hypersonic flow regime. The results showed Navier-stokes CFD to be effective tool for investigating hypersonic flow at low to moderate angles of attack. At higher angles of attack, above about 8 degrees, the flow separations that result from the leeside adverse pressure gradients, result in complex 3D flows that belay the underlying geometric simplicity, which are sensitive to turbulence modelling and can prove difficult for CFD to predict. Comparisons of heat transfer data, revealed the superior accuracy using an equilibrium real gas model compared with the perfect gas model.