A Numerical Study of Separating Supersonic Laminar Boundary Layers

A numerical study has been made of the nature of the solution to the supersonic boundary-layer equations when the flow separates from the surface. To this end, implicit finite-difference solutions to the governing equations were obtained for linearly and quadratically retarded flows over flat plates for a Mach number range of 2–15. Both extremely hot and cold-wall conditions are considered. The resutls of this study give strong evidence that all noninteracting flows are singular at separation.