Mathematical model of a kinetic boundary layer

The two-dimensional (plane) problem of a hypersonic kinetic boundary layer developing on a thin body in the case of a homogeneous polyatomic gas flow with no dissociation or electron excitation is considered assuming that energy exchange between translational and internal molecular degrees of freedom is easy. (The approximation of a hypersonic kinetic boundary layer arises from the kinetic theory of gases and, within the thin-layer model, takes into account the strong nonequilibrium of the hypersonic flow with respect to translational and internal degrees of freedom of the gas particles.) A method is proposed for constructing the solution of the given kinetic problem in terms of a given solution of an equivalent well-studied classical Navier–Stokes hypersonic boundary layer problem (which is traditionally formulated on the basis of the Navier–Stokes equations).