Numerical Investigation of the EXPERT Reentry Vehicle Aerothermodynamics Along the Descent Trajectory

Abstract

Results of numerical simulations of high-altitude aerothermodynamics of the EXPERT reentry capsule along its descent trajectory are presented. Aerodynamic characteristics for different angles of attack and rolling of the capsule at altitude of 150 down to 20 km are studied. An engineering local bridging method is used in computations. The uncertainty of the engineering method in the transitional regime is determined by comparisons with results obtained by DSMC simulations. I. Introduction During disorbiting, the spacecraft experiences the influence of the atmosphere with significantly varying parameters. To estimate the aerodynamic loads and to predict the landing area, one should know, already at the stage of design, the coefficients of aerodynamic forces and moments of the spacecraft for varying temperature, density, flight velocity, and angles of attack and sideslip for numerous possible descent trajectories. Thousands of various variants have to be computed. At the beginning of descent, at high altitudes where the gas is strongly rarefied, numerical simulations do not involve many difficulties, because theoretical approaches have been developed for simple shapes and the Test Particle Monte Carlo method can be readily used for more complicated shapes. On the other hand, various engineering approaches have been developed for calculating aerodynamic characteristics of various bodies at the final segment of the descent trajectory, in the continuum regime, which are fairly effective. The main problem is the analysis of spacecraft aerodynamics in the transitional regimes between the free-molecular and continuum regimes. The Navier-Stokes equations yield, strictly speaking, incorrect results in the transitional regime and require special modifications for taking into account flow slipping. The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method provides rather accurate values of aerodynamic characteristics with allowance for physical and chemical processes but requires large amounts of computer memory and performance. Application of the software based on the DSMC method is unreasonably expensive at the initial stage of spacecraft design and trajectory analysis. A possible solution of this problem is the approximate engineering methods. These methods allow calculating aerodynamic characteristics of bodies of arbitrary geometry for multiple variants of free-stream parameters within a reasonable time and then to refine the results at the most important segments of the flight trajectory by the DSMC method. The use of fast approximate engineering methods is the most acceptable approach to solving problems of spacecraft aerodynamics at the stage of conceptual design. The present paper describes the computations of aerodynamics of the EXPERT capsule by an engineering local bridging method at altitudes of 150 down to 20 km with flow parameters corresponding to the expected descent trajectory. The results in the transitional regime are refined by the DSMC method. The errors of the engineering method are studied in detail, and the contribution of various elements of the EXPERT capsule to aerodynamic characteristics is analyzed. II. EXPERT geometry The KHEOPS configuration (Fig. 1) is a blunted pyramidal shape featuring four flaps. The computational model was constructed by the RuSat software system. The total number of panels is approximately 36 thousand. The nose is made in the form of an ellipse with a misalignment of 0.9165. The local radius of the nose part is 0.6 m. The ellipse-cone junction is described by a clothoid. The conical body has a cone angle of 12.5°. The cone is truncated by planes at an angle of 8.35° to the axis of symmetry. Four control flaps are deflected by 20 °.