Scaling of interaction lengths for hypersonic shock wave/turbulent boundary layer interactions

The interaction length induced by Shock Wave/Turbulent Boundary-Layer Interactions (SWTBLIs) in the hypersonic flow was investigated using a scaling analysis, in which the interaction length normalized by the displacement thickness of boundary layer was correlated with a corrected non-dimensional separation criterion across the interaction after accounting for the wall temperature effects. A large number of hypersonic SWTBLIs were compiled to examine the scaling analysis over a wide range of Mach numbers, Reynolds numbers, and wall temperatures. The results indicate that the hypersonic SWTBLIs with low Reynolds numbers collapse on the supersonic SWTBLIs, while the hypersonic cases with high Reynolds numbers show a more rapid growth of the interaction length than that with low Reynolds numbers. Thus, two scaling relationships are identified according to different Reynolds numbers for the hypersonic SWTBLIs. The scaling analysis provides valuable guidelines for engineering prediction of the interaction length, and thus, enriches the knowledge of hypersonic SWTBLIs.