Heat transfer study of high speed flow over a spiked blunt body

Unsteady compressible, axisymmetric Navier‐Stokes equations are solved for a flow over a forward facing spike attached to a heat shield for a freestream Mach number range of 1.3‐4.5. A numerical simulation is carried out using a finite‐volume discretization technique in conjunction with a multistage Runge‐Kutta time‐stepping scheme. Comparisons have been made with experimental results such as surface oil flow visualisation, schlieren picture and surface pressure distribution. A good agreement is found between them. Computed results show that lengths of the separated region on the spike are influenced by freestream Mach number. The interaction between the shear layer on the spike and the conical‐reattachment shock wave causes the peak wall pressure and heat flux on the heat shield. The peak heat flux is shown to be a function of freestream Mach number and increases with increase in freestream Mach number.