Speaker
Description
Understanding the hypersonic flow around faceted shapes is important in the context of the fragmentation and demise of satellites undergoing uncontrolled atmospheric entry. In order to better understand the physics of such flows, as well as the satellite demise process, we perform an experimental study of the Mach 5 flow-field around a cuboid geometry in the University of Manchester High SuperSonic Tunnel. Heat fluxes are measured using infrared thermography and a 3D inverse heat conduction solution, and flow features are imaged using schlieren photography. Measurements are taken at a range of Reynolds numbers from ${40.0 \times 10^3}$ to ${549 \times 10^3}$. Measurements are taken at two different cube orientations to the free-stream flow and the results are compared to CFD and demise heating models. We suggest a new way of calculating heating shape factors which may be more suited to satellite shapes.
