Comparison of the Shakhov kinetic equation and DSMC method as applied to space vehicle aerothermodynamics

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the comparative study of Shakhov model kinetic equation and Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) solutions as applied to high-speed flow of a monatomic gas over generic three-dimensional space vehicle under angle of attack. The corresponding calculations are carried out using Nesvetay and SMILE software packages, developed by the authors. Satisfactory agreement is shown for surface distribution of pressure, friction and heat transfer coefficients despite very different modeling approaches and computational meshes employed. It is thus shown that the use of the model kinetic equations with approximate collision integrals provides accurate results for high-speed external monatomic gas flows over complex three-dimensional geometries at acceptable computational cost.