Numerical Simulation of the Recirculation Flow during the Supersonic Separation of Moving Bodies

Abstract

The features of a flow generated during the injection of a supersonic small body (pellet) from the channel of a spherically blunted cylinder into a supersonic flow are studied. The cylinder’s diameter is 35 times larger than the diameter of the injected body. The numerical simulation is carried out using multilevel Cartesian grids with the local adaptation based on the wavelet analysis. The body’s motion is simulated by the free boundary method. The dynamics of the moving body’s interaction with the bow shock from the cylinder, the formation of the reverse flow region between the bodies, its evolution and disappearance, and the subsequent establishment of a stationary flow are studied. The decrease of the main body’s drag to 20% of the initial value is demonstrated.