Analysis of the flow patterns on the fore-body section of a sounding vehicle in the transonic regime

Abstract

The present study has the purpose of presenting a numerical and experimental analysis of the flow patterns on the fore-body section of a sounding rocket model in the transonic regime. The measurements were carried out in the Pilot Transonic Wind Tunnel, known as TTP, at the Instituto de Aeronautica e Espaco (IAE), in Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, for Mach numbers ranging from 0.6 to 1.06 and zero angle of attack. The experimental techniques of pressure taps, pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) and schlieren visualization method were performed on a 1:34 scaled model of a sounding rocket. Complex phenomena as shock waves, boundary layer detachment, and expansion waves were clearly identified from the PSP pressure field and from the schlieren images. Good agreements between the PSP, pressure taps and numerical simulation results were observed, except around the tip of the model because of the curvature and also in details that were not captured by the camera.