On the teaching of the aerodynamic heating problem

Abstract

The problem of aerodynamic heating, along with some other topics, are lacking in most, if not all, heat transfer textbooks that are used for undergraduate and graduate education. There are many issues in the aerodynamic heating problem that are indeed very important from a convective heat transfer point of view. Although this topic is very important in any low or high speed application, the lack of analytical solutions in heat transfer, compressible flow and/or hypersonic flow textbooks has prompted this study. In practice, poor design and manufacture have led to undesired results, such as space shuttle disasters. Since, over the years, analysis has given way to numerical studies, the instructors do not take the necessary time to go through details. Thus the students just use the results without any awareness of how to get them and the inherent limitations of the analytical solution. The only intent of this paper, therefore, is to present the detailed analytical study that is shown step by step that could be used by heat transfer instructors in their courses and by students in their studies.