A preliminary study on the non-linear behavior of hypersonic flow

This paper aims to identify the chaotic behavior of plasma flow in hypersonic flights from the measurements made in a vector of atmospheric sounding. To this end, we analyzed the data obtained from the flight of the SONDA vector for the study of the upper atmosphere (GRADICOM II Project), which was launched on 11 July 2011 by the Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas para la Defensa from the Ministerio de Defensa de la Nación. The vector reached an apogee of 92 km approximately and a maximum speed of 6.56 Mach, presenting plasma formation immediately after entering hypersonic flight. Based on the inertial measurements in the vector's body, we proceeded to solve the equations of navigation, obtaining the trajectory and speed of the vector together with the transformation matrix between the reference systems, Earth Centered Earth Fixed “ECEF” and East North Up “ENU”. After the identification of the hypersonic flight zone, and from the point of view of the accelerations in ENU reference system, we computed several indexes and verified which were compatible with chaotic behavior using various methods. These results led us to continue our research work in order to better understand this characteristic of hypersonic flight.