<DOC>
<DOCNO>
552
</DOCNO>
<TITLE>
chemical kinetics of high temperature air .
</TITLE>
<AUTHOR>
wray,k.l.
</AUTHOR>
<BIBLIO>
hypersonic flow research, p 181, academic press, new york, 1962.
</BIBLIO>
<TEXT>
  when a hypersonic object enters earth's atmosphere, a shock
wave is formed in front of it, and the air passing through this
shock wave is heated to high temperatures .  the shock heated
molecules equilibrate their translational and rotational degrees
of freedom within a distance of a few mean free paths .
to achieve equilibrium, it is necessary to excite vibration,
dissociate molecules, produce new molecules and produce ions
and electrons .  the problem is complex, since all these phenomena
occur simultaneously and because the reaction rates depend
on the temperature, density and composition which are changing
during the relaxation toward equilibrium .
  the experimental techniques used to investigate these reactions
are briefly discussed along with the resulting rate expressions
obtained by the various investigators .  a compilation
of the rate expressions for these reactions representing the
author's evaluation of all the available data is presented .
several pertinent problems which are not yet completely understood
and which still require theoretical and experimental investigation
are outlined .  computed concentration, temperature
and density time histories are shown for three different shock
speeds in air .  the time rate of change of concentration for
each chemical reaction is also shown and regimes of importance
for the various processes are discussed .
</TEXT>
</DOC>
