Hypersonic boundary-layer separation on a cold wall

Abstract

An asymptotic theory of laminar hypersonic boundary-layer separation for large Reynolds number is described for situations when the surface temperature is small compared with the stagnation temperature of the inviscid external gas flow. The interactive boundary-layer structure near separation is described by well-known tripledeck concepts but, in contrast to the usual situation, the displacement thickness associated with the viscous sublayer is too small to influence the external pressure distribution (to leading order) for sufficiently small wall temperature. The present interaction takes place between the main part of the boundary layer and the external flow and may be described as inviscid–inviscid. The flow in the viscous sublayer is governed by the classical boundary-layer equations and the solution develops a singularity at the separation point. A main objective of this study is to show how the singularity may be removed in different circumstances.