Analysis of Refractive Index Changes Near Ablative Surface of Hypersonic Vehicle

Chemical kinetic schemes have been developed for hypersonic flows with ablative carbon and carbonaceous components; however, experimental data for the validation of these schemes are limited. Therefore, in this study, we use a carbon-ablation chemical kinetics model to identify changes in the refractive index field near a hypersonic vehicle as well as other experimentally observable metrics that can be detected in future experiments conducted in a high-enthalpy wind tunnel. The combined use of a zero-dimensional kinetics model, two-dimensional hypersonic flow simulations, and a refractive index model confirm that the level of carbon present in Mach 24 hypersonic flow significantly affects the refractive index, electron density, and shock wave location. All three metrics can be used for an analysis of ablation products in a high-enthalpy wind tunnel.