Revised model coefficients for vibrational relaxation in a nitrogen-oxygen gas mixture

摘要

A numerical investigation of thermal non-equilibrium flows requires species specific relaxation rates, which are often calculated using the Landau-Teller model. This model requires the determination of collision specific relaxation times, which can be computed using Millikan and White's empirical formula. The coefficients used in this formula for each specific collision pair form a set of coefficients, which are assessed here. The focus of the investigation lies on their performance in hypersonic low-temperature (300-2,500 K) flows that occur at shock-tunnel nozzle exits or in supersonic combustion ramjets (scramjets) before combustion. Two experimental validation cases are chosen; a shock-tunnel nozzle and a sharp cone in hypersonic cross-flow experiment. A comparison of the experimentally measured vibrational temperatures at the nozzle exit against numerical data shows large discrepancies for two commonly used coefficient sets. A revised set of coefficients is proposed that greatly improves the agreement between the numerical and experimental results. Furthermore, the numerically generated shock shape over the sharp cone using the revised set of coefficients correlates well with the experimental measurements.