In this paper, the flow field around and the heat-transfer characteristics of two different hypersonic projectiles are analyzed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Initially, complete flow fields are computed at a freestream Mach number of 7.0 for a 10° cone over a range of bluntness values at the tip. The computed heat-transfer results show the expected downward trend with increasing cone bluntness. Then the computations are extended to a high-kinetic-energy projectile with eight symmetrically placed fins. Tests are performed at a freestream Mach number of 5.4 using a non-contiguous grid. The CFD results capture the three-dimensional recirculation vortex upstream of the fin, and are used to relate the surface temperatures to the flow patterns. The numerical predictions agreed qualitatively with relevant data in the literature.
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