Abstract
The separation and shock wave formation on the aft-body of a hypersonic adiabatic circular cylinder were studied numerically using the open source software OpenFOAM. The simulations of laminar flow were performed over a range of Reynolds numbers (8 × 103 < Re < 8 × 104) at a free-stream Mach number of 5.9. Off-body viscous forces were isolated by controlling the wall boundary condition. It was observed that the off-body viscous forces play a dominant role compared to the boundary layer in displacement of the interaction onset in response to a change in Reynolds number. A modified free-interaction equation and correlation parameter has been presented which accounts for wall curvature effects on the interaction. The free-interaction equation was manipulated to isolate the contribution of the viscous–inviscid interaction to the overall pressure rise and shock formation. Using these equations coupled with highquality simulation data, the underlying mechanisms resulting in Reynolds number dependence of the lip-shock formation were investigated. A constant value for the interaction parameter representing the part of the pressure rise due to viscous–inviscid interaction has been observed at separation over a wide range of Reynolds numbers. The effect of curvature has been shown to be the primary contributor to the Reynolds number dependence of the free-interaction mechanism at separation. The observations in this work have been discussed here to create a thorough analysis of the Reynolds number-dependent nature of the lip-shock.
