Experimental Study of the Overequilibrium Surface Heating Effect in a Subsonic Dissociated Air Jet

The effect of overequilibrium heating of a surface with nonuniform catalytic properties in a subsonic flow of dissociated air is experimentally studied using the VGU-4 HF-plasmatron. A temperature jump is observed on a plate of Buran orbital vehicle heat-shield material as the flow transitions from the low-catalytic area of the surface to the high-catalytic area covered with chromium-nickel spinel NiCr₂O₄. A temperature jump is also observed on the heat-shield tile of the Buran orbital vehicle at the transition from the low-catalytic area of its surface to the medium-catalytic area covered with niobium. The temperatures of the surfaces with uniform and nonuniform catalytic properties under the same flow regimes are compared.