Effects of thermochemical non-equilibrium in the boundary layer of an ablative thermal protection system: a state-to-state approach

The aim of this work is to investigate the effects of thermochemical non-equilibrium in the shock layer and boundary layer of hypersonic flows past blunt bodies entering planetary atmospheres. Ablative thermal protection systems change the mixture composition of the boundary layer with significant impact on the surface heat flux. In this context, a vibrationally resolved state-to-state approach is employed in order to understand the effect of non-equilibrium of the molecular energy level population on the surface heat flux.