A numerical method for conjugate heat transfer problems in hypersonic flows

A finite-volume two-dimensional plane/axisymmetric heat-conduction solver for solid materials has been developed and coupled with a hypersonic flow solver to the aim of evaluating the thermal load on a body that is immersed in a high-speed flow. Different coupling strategies that can be enforced between the two solvers were considered and are discussed here. A tight coupling technique is particularly suitable for unsteady time-accurate calculations, but due to the large difference between fluid dynamics and heat conduction time scales, this may lead to unacceptable computational times. A valid alternative approach is to proceed with a series of "quasi-stationary" states, allowing the heat-conduction solver to evolve in a loosely coupled fashion using time steps which are large with respect to the flow time scale. The obtained results are compared with available numerical and experimental data, showing a fairy good agreement. Copyright © 2008 by Pietro Ferrero and Domenic D.