An experimental investigation of nonequilibrium corner expansion flows of dissociated oxygen
Publisher: Defense Technical Information Center
Published: 1967
Place of publication: Ft. Belvoir
Language: eng
Number of pages: 114
Subjects: (Oxygen; Nonequilibrium flow); (Curved profiles; Gas flow); Pressure; Dissociation; Boundary layer; Density; Shock waves; Canada; Fluid Mechanics
Description: The study consisted of density measurements made with a Mach-Zehnder interferometer and pressure measurements using piezoelectric transducers. In additon, other optical studies (viz., schlieren and shadowgraph) were made to obtain information of a qualitative nature. Two fundamentally different test models were used to generate corner expansion flows in an effort to gain some insight into the nature and extent of boundary layer influence on the final results. The detailed density and pressure results which were obtained indicate a longer relaxation distance than predicted by theoretical calculations based on a partially excited gas model and would appear to favor the predictions of more recent calculations based on a coupled vibration-dissociation model, in lieu of assuming instantaneous vibrational equilibrium. Viscous interaction between the boundary layer and the corner expansion wave tended to modity the experimental results and in some cases was the dominant factor. (Author).