Investigation on the Characteristics of Plume-Induced Flow Separation and Wall Heat Transfer

Abstract

Plume induced flow separation phenomena and the convective heat flux to the base surface were investigated according to the base configurations. The flight condition of a vehicle was the flight Mach number of 5 and the plume Mach number of 3. A twodimensional axisymmetric Navier-Stokes solver containing a k-�& SST turbulence model was used to solve the launch vehicle configuration in which a plume was incorporated. The results acquired from plume induced flow separation computations were compared to results acquired through experimentation as a means to validate the codes utilized in these investigations. Three after-body configurations were simulated in order to investigate the effects experienced by the launch. The three configurations examined in this study were designated as: (1) boat-tail, (2) straight, and (3) flare. The boat tail after body configuration caused plume induced flow separation, while the flare configuration suppressed plume induced flow separation. Additionally, the flare type base reduced the convective heat flux to the base surface. The maximum heat flux occurred around the nozzle exit due to the plume’s rapid expansion.