Investigation of temperature fields in supersonic flow behind a backward-facing step

The results of numerical modelling and experimental investigations of high-enthalpy turbulent flows in the neighborhood of 90-degree backward-facing steps at the Mach numbers M∞ = 2–4 are presented. The experiments were conducted in the hot-shot wind tunnel IT-302M of ITAM SB RAS. The computations were carried out on the basis of the full Favres-averaged Navier — Stokes equations augmented by the Wilcox turbulence model. The temperature factor influence on the flow structure in the separated zone and temperature distributions was investigated numerically for different Mach numbers. The wall temperature is shown to affect significantly the quantity and sizes of recirculation vortices as well as the temperature distribution in the zone of flow separation and reattachment. The computational results are compared with experimental data on the pressure distribution on the model surface and the wave structure of the flow.