Effects of chemical energy accommodation on nonequilibrium flow and heat transfer to a catalytic wall

The accurate prediction of the aeroheating performance of hypersonic vehicles requires more detailed modeling of the catalysis process, rather than merely employing a catalytic coefficient. In this paper, the theoretical modeling, as well as the direct simulation Monte Carlo method, is used to preliminarily study the incomplete chemical energy accommodation effects, that is, only a part of the potential energy released in the heterogenous recombination reaction is transferred to the surface, while the remaining is retained as the vibrational energy of the desorbed molecule. An integrated model is proposed to describe the contribution of each energy mode in the rarefied nonequilibrium heat and mass transfer process. Based on the model and several Damköhler numbers, an analytical formula is derived, and is also shown to compare well with the numerical results. On account of the incomplete accommodations of the chemical and vibrational energy on the wall, a variation up to 20% is observed in predicting the stagnation point heat flux under typical nonequilibrium flow conditions. This study could enrich our understanding of the nonequilibrium heat transfer phenomenon and also shows a potential practical value.