Experimental studies of supporting wire disturbances in the near viscous wakes of slender supersonic bodies

Wires have often been used as a means of mechanically supporting a model so that its wake will be relatively free of support interference. Such support systems have many advantages over stings and are less costly than magnetic suspension systems. Investigations into the disturbances caused by these supporting wires have been carried out with the use of a two-dimensional flat plate and a wire supported slender cone. The tests were conducted in the University of Missouri-Rolla axisymmetric, supersonic wind tunnel at Mach 3.15, and at a Reynolds number of 2.14 X 10⁶ per inch. Schlieren photography, pitot and static pressure traverses in the near, viscous wake of an 8 degree half-angle wire supported cone were conducted in order to determine the effect of supporting wires on the flow. Additional related data is presented for a two-dimensional, sharp leading edge flat plate with an interference wire used to disturb the plate\u27s wake. Wires were shown to have no effect on the pitot pressures in the viscous wake. Data presented is compared to the previous work of others using supporting wires as a means of model support --Abstract, page ii