Simultaneous measurements were carried out with three hot-film probes in the Mach 8 flow over an elliptic cone of 2:1 aspect ratio, and the data obtained were compared to results of computations using the parabolized Navier-Stokes equations and linear stability theory. The elliptic-cone flow was found to be significantly different from the flows studied in previous hypersonic-flow stability experiments, which have focused exclusively on windtunnel models with two-dimensional, planar or axial symmetry. At least two instability mechanisms appear to be active in the present flow: one associated with the region of maximum crossflow in the vicinity of the shoulder of the cone and the other associated with the inflectional velocity profiles on the top centerline.
展开▼
