Abstract:
The pressure distribution around circular cylinders has been measured near M∞ = 2, for Reynolds numbers between 5 and 135. The induced pressure due to viscous effects has been estimated using a 'tangent-cylinder' method and found to agree well with experiment. The pressure drag is shown to increase gradually with rarefaction, and the estimated skin-friction drag increased. A diagram of the flow has been built up from the pressure measurements, wake traverses, and argon-afterglow photographs.