High Angle-of-Attack Pitching Moment Characteristics of Slender-Bodied Reusable Rocket

Abstract

The development of a fully reusable vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing rocket is indispensable for reducing space transportation costs. However, there are many technical issues associated with such vehicles, such as the safe execution of a turnover maneuver during return flight. It is known that a relatively desirable pitching moment characteristic for turnover can be accomplished by employing a slender-body configuration, but the reason for this is not well understood. In this study, a delayed detached-eddy simulation on the aerodynamic characteristics of such a slender-bodied reusable rocket is carried out for angles of attack between 0 and 180 deg using unstructured compressible computational fluid dynamics. Inviscid calculations are also conducted to distinguish the pitching moment contribution of the body configuration itself from the effects of viscosity and turbulence. It was found that two types of vortices were formed at 0–90 deg, and these vortices affected the pitching moment distribution. Three types of vortices generated at 90–180 deg were also observed. Combined with the results of the inviscid simulation, it is concluded that the pitching moment characteristic is greatly impacted by the behaviors of these vortices and bubbles.