Numerical simulation as an important tool in developing novel hypersonic technologies

Abstract

Development of novel hypersonic technologies necessarily requires the development of methods for analyzing a motion of hypervelocity vehicles. This paper could be considered as the initial stage in developing of complex computational model for studying flows around hypervelocity vehicles of arbitrary shape. Essential part of the model is a solution to three-dimensional transport equations for mass, momentum and energy for the medium in the state of both LTE (local thermodynamic equilibrium) and non-LTE. One of the primary requirements to the developed model is the realization on the modern heterogeneous computer systems including both CPU and GPU. The paper presents the first results on numerical simulation of hypersonic flow. The first problem considered is three-dimensional flow around curved body under angle of attack. The performance of heterogeneous 4-GPU computer system is tested. The second problem highlights the capabilities of the developed model to study heat and mass transfer problems. Namely, interior heat problem is considered which takes into account ablation of thermal protection system and variation of the surface shape of the vehicle.