Study of Flowfield around a Hypersonic Model of HOPE-X Utilizing the Electric Discharge Method.

The shock shapes, boundary layers, and temperature layers around a model of HOPE-X traveling at a hypersonic speed were visualized utilizing the electric discharge method. The experiments were carried out under the condition that the angles of attack were 0°, 15°, 30°, and 45°. To visualize 3-D shock shapes around the model, the observation of shock shapes were conducted from the side and back of the model. From the experimental results, it was confirmed that the two kinds of shock shapes interacted with each other. The various kinds of shock shapes according to the model angles of attack were also obtained. Subsequently, the visualized results of temperature layer around the model were described. Furthermore, the boundary layers generated around the model were visualized and compared with the temperature layers. A hypersonic gun tunnel was used in these experiments. The main characteristics of the tunnel were the Mach number was 10 and the duration was 10ms.