Assessment of Turbulence-Chemistry Interaction in Hypersonic Turbulent Boundary Layers

Studies of the turbulence - chemistry interaction are performed in hypersonic turbulent boundary layers using direct numerical simulation flowfields under typical hypersonic conditions representative of blunt-body and slender-body hypersonic vehicles, with supercatalytic and noncatalytic wall conditions in pure air. Non-dimensional governing parameters, the interaction Damkohler number and the interaction relative heat release, are proposed to measure the influence of turbulence - chemistry interaction on flow composition and temperature. Both a priori and a posteriori studies are performed to assess the effect of turbulence - chemistry interaction on chemical production rates and mean and turbulent flow characteristics. It is found that the governing parameters provide good metrics for estimating the intensity of turbulence - chemistry interaction. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]