Surface pressure measurements for CFD code validation in hypersonic flow

Extensive surface pressure measurements were obtained on a hypersonic vehicle configuration at Mach 8. All of the experimental results were obtained in the Sandia National Laboratories Mach 8 hypersonic wind tunnel for laminar boundary layer conditions. The basic vehicle configuration is a spherically blunted 10{degrees} half-angle cone with a slice parallel with the axis of the vehicle. The bluntness ratio of the geometry is 10% and the slice begins at 70% of the length of the vehicle. Surface pressure measurements were obtained for angles of attack from {minus}10 to + 18{degrees}, for various roll angles, at 96 locations on the body surface. A new and innovative uncertainty analysis was devised to estimate the contributors to surface pressure measurement uncertainty. Quantitative estimates were computed for the uncertainty contributions due to the complete instrumentation system, nonuniformity of flow in the test section of the wind tunnel, and variations in the wind tunnel model. This extensive set of high-quality surface pressure measurements is recommended for use in the calibration and validation of computational fluid dynamics codes for hypersonic flow conditions