Steady shock wave reflections in thermochemical nonequilibrium flows

Abstract.

The shock wave reflection phenomena in hypersonic steady air flows, including thermochemical nonequilibrium effects, are investigated. The main objectives are to study the influence of these effects on the two shock wave reflections (regular and Mach reflections), on the Mach stem height and on the hysteresis behavior. The air computations are performed using a multi-block MUSCL-TVD finite-volume scheme. The computational results with and without thermochemical effects in the air mixture flow at an upstream Mach number equal to 7 are compared. The comparison reveals a strong dependence of the transition angles, of the height and location of the Mach stem on the physical modeling of the gas flow.