Numerical investigation of double-cone flows using an energy-bin approach

An energy bin based coupling model for recombination is used to simulate flows over double-cones. The inherent coupling between rotational and vibrational modes is taken into account by the use of energy bins. A prior recombination distribution of molecules dependent on the total energy available to a recombining system is obtained using information theory. The low-lying electronic states of oxygen are also considered. The reservoir conditions of the shock tunnel are re-computed based on the energy bin approach to simulate the nozzle flowfield. The new test section conditions are used to compute the flow over the double-cone geometry. The results are compared with a previous study ("Numerical Comparison of Double-Cone Flow Experiments with High-Enthalpy Effects", AIAA-2010-1283). The comparison shows that the energy-bin approach improves the prediction of the wall pressure and heat flux. Sensitivity to the model parameters in the energy bin approach is also investigated.