Experimental Measurements on a Planar Wedge With Sharp Nose in Hypersonic Flow

A two-dimensional 10◦ half angle wedge test article was designed and tested in an experimental campaign in Texas A&M University’s hypervelocity expansion wind tunnel. The overarching goal of the experimental campaign was to evaluate the role of nose bluntness and the entropy layer on the impact of boundary layer. The diagnostics techniques employed in this work included schlieren photography, a high frequency pressure transducer, and linear array focused laser differential interferometry. Experimental test conditions comprised Mach numbers of 4-6, Reynolds numbers between 34 × 10^6(1/m) and 85 × 10^6(1/m), and static temperatures between 90 K and 220 K.