Application of the Skeleton Model of a Highly Porous Cellular Material in Modeling Supersonic Flow past a Cylinder with a Forward Gas-Permeable Insert

Abstract

The supersonic (M_∞ = 4.85) flow past a cylinder with a forward insertmade of a highlyporous cellular material is numerically modeled within the framework of the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations. The air flow in the gas-permeable insert is described on the basis of a skeleton model of a highly-porous medium, whose determining parameters are the porosity coefficient (95%) and the pore dimensions (1 mm) of the actual cellular material. The aerodynamic drag coefficients of the model with different lengths of the porous forward insert are calculated on the unit Reynolds number range from 6.9 × 10⁵ to 13.8 × 10⁶ m⁻¹. They are in agreement with the available experimental data, which indicates the adequacy of the proposed skeleton model in describing the actual properties of highly-porous materials.