Aerodynamic Characteristics of Frustum-Shaped Elastic Membrane Aeroshells in Supersonic Flow

Abstract

Introduction A aeroshell shows potential to be used for innovative reentry vehicle concept.1 Various concepts of membrane aeroshells have been proposed for a decelerator in supersonic flight of reentry or aerocapture vehicles.2−4 A vehicle with a low mass and large membrane aeroshell can have much smaller ballistic coefficient than conventional reentry vehicles because the ballistic coefficient represents the ratio of the mass to the drag-producing area of the vehicle. For such a vehicle, large deceleration can be obtained during flight at high altitude, where the atmospheric density is very low. This leads to reduction in the maximum aerodynamic heating because a heat flux to a body surface increases with the atmospheric density at the flight altitude. When a membrane aeroshell is used, the cost and weight for thermal protection systems are expected to be dramatically reduced, and a safer and cheaper reentry system