Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator Research Articles

Application of improved k-ω-γ model to deformed hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator aeroshell

The scalloping surface of Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) promotes flow transition. Precise prediction of flow transition and surface aeroheating over the HIAD is imperative to the design of thermal protection system. In this paper, the improved k-ω-γ model considering the separation instability is first applied to the deformed HIAD aeroshell under various angles of attack to assess and verify its performance on such complex configuration, where multiple transition mechanisms coexist and interact. The results of the original k-ω-γ model are also provided for comparison and the prediction mechanisms of the improved model are further dissected. The results reveal that the flow separation and crossflow caused by the scalloping surface are highly sensitive to the angle of attack (α). With the α increasing, an opposite tendency between them can be found, that is, larger α causes stronger and earlier crossflow, but much later flow separation, which leads to the alternation of dominant instabilities for transition in turn. At the relatively high angle of attack, the crossflow becomes critical, at a small angle of attack, however, the separation instability is dominant. The first-mode disturbance can also accelerate the flow instability, while the influence of second-mode disturbance can be neglected due to relatively low post-shock Mach numbers. As a result, the original k-ω-γ model, not attempting to incorporate separated flow transition, predicts an opposite tendency to the experiments. While the transition onset, extent and shape simulated by the improved k-ω-γ model compare quite well with the experiments.

Assessment and improvement of k-ω-γ model for separation-induced transition prediction

The purpose of this work is to improve the k-ω-γ transition model for separation-induced transition prediction. The fundamental cause of the excessively small separation bubble predicted by k-ω-γ model is scrutinized from the perspective of model construction. On the basis, three rectifications are conducted to improve the k-ω-γ model for separation-induced transition. Firstly, a damping function is established via comparing the molecular diffusion timescale with the rapid pressure-strain timescale. The damping function is applied to prevent the effective length scale from incorrect distribution near the leading edge of the separation bubble. Secondly, the pressure gradient parameter λζ, is proposed as an indicator for local susceptibility to the separation instability. Additionally, λζ,-based separation intermittency γsep is constructed to accelerate the substantial growth of turbulent kinetic energy after flow separation. The improved model appropriate for both low- and high-speed flow has been calibrated against a variety of diverse and challenging experiments, including the subsonic T3L plate, Aerospatial A airfoil, transonic NLR-7301 airfoil and deformed hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator aeroshell. The improved model is strictly based on local variables and Galilean invariance. Besides, the proposed improvement for k-ω-γ model can be fairly convenient to incorporate into other existing intermittency-based transition models.

Investigation into The Influences of Turbulence Models on Heating Prediction of Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator

With the increasing demand for larger payloads for manned spaceflight and planetary exploration missions, hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator has gradually great application potentiality. The work presents the numerical simulations of hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator by the compressible Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations with different turbulence models (such as SA, BSL, wilcox1988, SST). The pressure, eddy viscosity and heat flux under three Reynolds numbers (6.89E+6, 9.94E+6, 12.73E+6) are analyzed. The results demonstrate that the surface pressure distributions have slight difference, whereas the surface heating distributions appear remarkable diversity. In addition, compared with one equation turbulence model, two-equation turbulence models maybe more suitable for hypersonic heating predictions.

Multifidelity Turbulent Heating Prediction of Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators with Surface Scalloping

The objective of this work was to investigate a multifidelity modeling approach to accurately and efficiently predict the turbulent convective heating on hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerators with both smooth and scalloped walls. A previously developed co-kriging-based multifidelity modeling approach was used to model the turbulent and laminar convective heat fluxes on smooth wall vehicles. The smooth wall turbulent and laminar multifidelity heating models were then combined to create a multifidelity model of the augmented turbulent heat flux on scalloped vehicles. The smooth wall turbulent heat-flux multifidelity model was found to have a mean convective heat rate error of approximately 7% when compared to high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. The scalloped augmented turbulent heat-flux multifidelity model was found to have a mean convective heat rate error of approximately 10% when compared to high-fidelity CFD simulations. Compared to a single-fidelity model, the multifidelity model required approximately one-quarter the number of high-fidelity model evaluations to obtain the same accuracy level. The computational cost of evaluating the multifidelity model was approximately five orders of magnitude less than one high-fidelity model simulation.

An improved local correlation-based intermittency transition model appropriate for high-speed flow heat transfer

An improved local correlation-based intermittency transition model is developed for high-speed flow heat transfer in this paper. Based on the intermittency transition model, two improvements have been proposed. One is introducing a new correlation of the momentum thickness Reynolds number for high-speed boundary layer into the transition onset function. In this new correlation, the free stream Mach number and the free stream Reynolds number are used to reflect the compressible effects. The other improvement is the modification of the intermittency factor transport equation to include physical information regarding the transition processes. Several test cases containing supersonic and hypersonic flat plates, a slender cone at different Reynolds numbers, the X-51A forebody, and the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator are conducted to assess the applicability of the improved intermittency transition model. The numerical results show the ability of the improved model to describe the high-speed boundary layer transition processes. However, further research is needed to reproduce the overshoot phenomena and verify the capacity of the improved model on complex cases.

Numerical study of the cone angle effects on transition and convection heat transfer for hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator aeroshell

The inevitable boundary-layer transition and severe heating argumentation of Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) pose challenge for survivability of a Thermal Protection System (TPS). In the current study, the effects of sphere-cone angle on hypersonic heating and boundary-layer transition of stacked tori HIADs with 60°, 65° and 70° sphere-cone are demonstrated minutely by solving compressible Navier-Stokes equations with k-ω-γ transition model. Transition and heating augmentation triggered on the leeward where the shape deformation causes crossflows and local flow separations are sensitive to the cone angle. Smaller cone angle withstands severer heating flux. The study reveals that the first-mode disturbance and crossflow instability are dominators to the transition. Whereas the contribution of second-mode disturbance could be negligible. Larger cone angle postpones transition onsets as a result of weaker crossflow and more limited affected region of the first-mode disturbance. The 70° sphere-cone model, whose crossflow is lower than the critical value is only determined by the first mode, and thus has a quite smaller transition zone as compared to the other two models.

Anisotropic thermal conductivity under compression in two-dimensional woven ceramic fibers for flexible thermal protection systems

Flexible thermal protection materials made from two-dimensional woven ceramics fibers are of significant interest for hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerators being developed by NASA for future missions on Mars and other planets. A key component of the thermal shield is a heat-resistant outer ceramic fabric that must withstand harsh aero-thermal atmospheric entry conditions. However, a predictive understanding of heat conduction processes in complex woven-fiber ceramic materials under deformation is currently lacking. This article presents a combined experimental and computational study of thermal conductivity in 5-harness-satin woven Nextel 440 fibers, using the hot-disk transient plane source method and computational thermo-mechanical modeling by finite-element analysis. The objective is to quantify and understand the effect of compressive strain on anisotropic heat conduction in flexible two-dimensional ceramic materials. We find, both experimentally and theoretically, that thermal conductivity of woven fabrics rises in both in-plane and out-of-plane directions, as the transverse load increases. Air gap conduction and fiber-to-fiber contacts are shown to play a major role in this behavior. Our finite-element simulations suggest that the thermal conductivity anisotropy is strong because heat transfer of air confined between fibers is reduced compared to that of free air. The proposed modeling methodology accurately captures the experimental heat conduction results and should be applicable to more complex loading conditions and different woven fabric materials, relevant to extreme high temperature environments.

New Method for Systems and Cost Analysis of Human Mars Entry Vehicles

Cost is one of the biggest obstacles to sending humans to Mars. However, spacecraft costs are typically not estimated until after the preliminary vehicle and mission concepts have been designed. By automating the cost estimation process, the effect of any change in vehicle or mission design on the mission cost can be determined more efficiently. This paper describes an extension to the systems analysis for planetary entry, descent, and landing tool. This extension integrates the cost modeling software SEER-H (which stands for system estimation and evaluation of resources hardware) with a number of systems analysis tools. This new method is used to analyze several tradespaces of a hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator entry vehicle for human Mars missions. Key findings include quantifying the impacts of the ballistic coefficient, the main engine specific impulse, and the thrust-to-weight ratio on the overall cost of the vehicle; as well as how the payload per lander and the number of landers affect the cost of a campaign to Mars.

Hypersonic aerodynamics of a deformed aeroshell in continuum and near-continuum regimes

The flexible inflatable aeroshell naturally deforms under aerodynamic loads during atmospheric entry. In this paper, we investigate the hypersonic aerodynamics of an inflatable aeroshell forebody with undulated surface deformation in the continuum and near-continuum flow regimes, where flow physics is complex involving rarefaction and thermochemical nonequilibrium effect. The aeroshell forebody shape is originated from a model of 8.3 m diameter stacked-tori hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator, and a series of surface deflections is generated by a parametric method based on the consistency of undulation with underlying structure. The trajectory points of 90, 80, and 68 km altitudes in a low Earth orbit reentry are considered. The thermochemical nonequilibrium Navier-Stokes equations with slip and no-slip boundary conditions are numerically solved to characterize flowfields and provide aerodynamic predictions. The results demonstrate that the undulated surface deflection induces local fluctuations of pressure and local Knudsen number, while the local variations of aerodynamic quantities create minor difference in total drag. The surface friction and drag are dependent on boundary conditions, i.e., either slip or no-slip model. The results also indicate that it is required to employ slip boundary conditions for the accurate prediction of friction and drag in the near continuum regime.

Assessment of laminar-turbulent transition models for Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator aeroshell in convection heat transfer

Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) has shown its great potential for future planetary explorations. However, the HIAD surface deflections could both promote boundary-layer transition early and augment heating levels sharply, which poses challenges for survivability of a Thermal Protection System (TPS). The goal of this work is to assess different transition models for the prediction of hypersonic transitional flows over scalloping deformed HIAD surface and to seek the critical factor for their capabilities to provide a reference for the application and advancement. Three representative transition models are considered: γ-Reθ, k-ω-γ and kT-kL-ω. The results show that the undulating surface causes flow separations and reattachments in valleys and strong crossflow along the leeward. k-ω-γ model can correctly predict both the shapes and locations of the transition onsets. The transition zone predicted by γ-Reθ model is much small, while kT-kL-ω is incapable of transition prediction for such a complex and irregular configuration. Moreover, this study reveals that the crossflow instability plays a dominant role in the transition. The crossflow Reynolds number Recf, whose distributions are approximately consistent with the transition zone, could be a feasible crossflow strength indicator for the transition onsets on the undulating surface. Once k-ω-γ model excludes effects of crossflow instability, it predicts incorrect transition results for the deformed surface of HIAD. Besides, a detailed analysis shows that both the crossflow instability mode and the first disturbance mode in valleys are the major contributors to the transition on the leeward surface. Near the leeward ray, the transition is mainly determined by the first disturbance mode.

Structural analysis of hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator pressure tub testing

Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) systems have the potential to deliver the large payloads required for human-scale Mars missions. The structural response of the HIAD is critical as the inflatable members are relatively compliant compared with traditional decelerators. Structural testing and analysis were conducted on a 3.7 m HIAD subjected to uniform pressure. A beam-based finite-element modeling methodology was developed to analyze the inflatable system that incorporates strap pretension and interaction between adjacent members, a significant advance relative to previous analyses of individual inflated HIAD components. The computationally efficient modeling approach accurately captured the load-deformation response of the HIAD system.

Surface Heating and Boundary-Layer Transition on a Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator

The aerothermodynamic environment of a hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator with a flexible thermal protection system has been investigated through wind-tunnel testing. Boundary-layer transition onset locations and surface heating distributions were measured using global phosphor thermography on deflected, solid-surface models representative of a hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator aeroshell with a flexible surface. Data were obtained at Mach 6 for a wide range of surface deflection heights, angles of attack, and freestream Reynolds numbers. The surface deflections resulted in earlier boundary-layer transition onset and higher heating levels than for a smooth-wall surface, with the greatest effects occurring on the leeward side of the aeroshell. The heating augmentation and transition onset data were correlated using flowfield properties obtained from a complementary computational study. A method was developed to estimate flexible thermal protection system deflection effects using these correlations along with smooth-wall flowfield predictions. This method was validated through comparisons to the wind-tunnel data and then used to generate postflight predictions for aeroshell heating levels of the Inflatable Reentry Vehicle Experiment flight-test program. The results of this study provide a means for estimating flexible thermal protection system deflection effects for future flight tests as well as an experimental database for use in the development and validation of computational methods for simulations of hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator aerothermodynamic environments.

Structural testing and analysis of a braided, inflatable fabric torus structure

Inflatable structural members have military, disaster relief, aerospace and other important applications as they possess low mass, can be stored in a relatively small volume and have significant load-carrying capacity once pressurized. Of particular interest to the present research is the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) structure under development by NASA. In order to make predictions about the structural response of the HIAD system, it is necessary to understand the response of individual inflatable tori composing the HIAD structure. These inflatable members present unique challenges to structural testing and modeling due to their internal inflation pressure and relative compliance. Structural testing was performed on a braided, inflatable, toroidal structural member with axial reinforcing cords. The internal inflation pressure, magnitude of enforced displacement and loading methodology were varied. In-plane and out-of-plane experimental results were compared to model predictions using a three dimensional, corotational, flexibility-based fiber-beam finite element model including geometric and material nonlinearities, as well as the effects of inflation pressure. It was found that in order to approximate the load-deformation response observed in experimentation it is necessary to carefully control the test and model boundary conditions and loading scheme.

Protection of surface assets on Mars from wind blown jettisoned spacecraft components

Jettisoned Entry, Descent and Landing System (EDLS) hardware from landing spacecraft have been observed by orbiting spacecraft, strewn over the Martian surface. Future Mars missions that land spacecraft close to prelanded assets will have to use a landing architecture that somehow minimises the possibility of impacts from these jettisoned EDLS components. Computer modelling is used here to investigate the influence of wind speed and direction on the distribution of EDLS components on the surface. Typical wind speeds encountered in the Martian Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) were found to be of sufficient strength to blow items having a low ballistic coefficient, i.e. Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators (HIADs) or parachutes, onto prelanded assets even when the lander itself touches down several kilometres away. Employing meteorological measurements and careful characterisation of the Martian PBL, e.g. appropriate wind speed probability density functions, may then benefit future spacecraft landings, increase safety and possibly help reduce the delta v budget for Mars landers that rely on aerodynamic decelerators.

Effect of static shape deformation on aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics of hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator

The inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (IAD), which allows heavier and larger payloads and offers flexibility in landing site selection at higher altitudes, possesses potential superiority in next generation space transport system. However, due to the flexibilities of material and structure assembly, IAD inevitably experiences surface deformation during atmospheric entry, which in turn alters the flowfield around the vehicle and leads to the variations of aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics. In the current study, the effect of the static shape deformation on the hypersonic aerodynamics and aerothermodynamics of a stacked tori Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) is demonstrated and analyzed in detail by solving compressible Navier-Stokes equations with Menter's shear stress transport (SST) turbulence model. The deformed shape is obtained by structural modeling in the presence of maximum aerodynamic pressure during entry. The numerical results show that the undulating shape deformation makes significant difference to flow structure. In particular, the more curved outboard forebody surface results in local flow separations and reattachments in valleys, which consequently yields remarkable fluctuations of surface conditions with pressure rising in valleys yet dropping on crests while shear stress and heat flux falling in valleys yet rising on crests. Accordingly, compared with the initial (undeformed) shape, the corresponding differences of surface conditions get more striking outboard, with maximum augmentations of 379 pa, 2224 pa, and 19.0W/cm2, i.e., 9.8%, 305.9%, and 101.6% for the pressure, shear stress and heat flux respectively. Moreover, it is found that, with the increase of angle of attack, the aerodynamic characters and surface heating vary and the aeroheating disparities are evident between the deformed and initial shape. For the deformable HIAD model investigated in this study, the more intense surface conditions and changed flight aerodynamics are revealed, which is critical for the selection of structure material and design of flight control system.

Thermal Protection System Response Uncertainty of a Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator

The objective of this paper is to investigate the uncertainty in the bondline temperature response of a flexible thermal protection system subject to uncertain parameters in the hypersonic flowfield and thermal response modeling of a hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator configuration for ballistic Mars entry. An inflatable decelerator with a 10 m major diameter is selected for this study based on the forebody dimensions scaled from the 6 m test article that was tested in the NASA Ames Research Center’s National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex facility. A global nonlinear sensitivity analysis study for the bondline temperature uncertainty shows that the dimension of uncertain parameters can reduce from 22 to 8. An uncertainty analysis of the bondline temperature in the reduced dimensions indicates that the bondline temperature varies by as much as 125% above the nominal prediction and exceeds the temperature limit of 400°C. The largest uncertainty occurred at 70 s in the trajectory before separation of the inflatable decelerator for transition to a secondary descent technology. The main contributors to the bondline temperature uncertainty are the insulator and outer fabric conductivities, as well as the freestream density. The thickness and initial density of the insulator layer, closest to the gas barrier layer, are also shown to be significant contributors to the bondline temperature uncertainty, especially earlier in the trajectory.

Uncertainty Analysis of Fluid-Structure Interaction of a Deformable Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator

The objective of this paper is to present the results of a detailed uncertainty analysis for high-fidelity fluid–structure interaction modeling of a deformable hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator at peak heating conditions for lifting Mars entry with a turbulent flow assumption. Uncertainty results are presented for the structural deformation response and surface conditions (pressure, shear stress, and convective heat transfer) of the inflatable decelerator with an efficient polynomial chaos expansion approach. The uncertainty results are compared with results obtained in a previous study for ballistic Mars entry. Approximately half of the flowfield and structural modeling uncertainties show at least 90% combined contribution to the inflatable decelerator deflection and resulting surface condition uncertainties. For lifting Mars entry, global nonlinear sensitivity analysis shows that the tensile stiffness of the inflatable structure’s axial cords and radial straps and the torus torsional and tensile stiffnesses are the main contributors to the inflatable decelerator deflection uncertainty. As a result of these structural uncertainty contributions, the shape deformation contributes up to 10% of the uncertainty in the surface conditions. However, the freestream density dominates the uncertainty in the surface conditions experienced by the inflatable decelerator. In addition, the binary collision interaction is a significant contributor to aerodynamic heating and shear stress uncertainty.

Uncertainty Analysis of Radiative Heating Predictions for Titan Entry

The objective of this study was to investigate the uncertainty in shock layer radiative heating predictions on the surface of a hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator during Titan entry at peak radiative heating conditions. Computational fluid dynamics simulations of planetary entry flows and radiative heating predictions possess a significant amount of uncertainty due to the complexity of the flow physics and the difficulty in obtaining accurate experimental results of molecular-level phenomena. Sources of uncertainty considered include flowfield chemical rate models, molecular band emission, and the excitation/deexcitation rates of molecules modeled with a non-Boltzmann approach. Because of the computational cost of the numerical models, uncertainty quantification was performed with a surrogate modeling approach based on a sparse approximation of the point-collocation nonintrusive polynomial chaos expansion. Accurate uncertainty results were obtained with only 500 evaluations of the computational model. Results showed that epistemic uncertainty intervals of surface radiative heating predictions were as wide as during Titan entry, indicating the significant effect of uncertainty. A global nonlinear sensitivity analysis showed that the top uncertainty source contributing to the uncertainty in radiative heating was the flowfield chemistry modeling throughout the shock layer.

Uncertainty Analysis of Mars Entry Flows over a Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator

A detailed uncertainty analysis for high-fidelity flowfield simulations over a fixed aeroshell of hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator scale for Mars entry is presented for fully laminar and turbulent flows at peak stagnation-point heating conditions. This study implements a sparse-collocation approach based on stochastic expansions for efficient and accurate uncertainty quantification under a large number of uncertainty sources in the computational model. The convective and radiative heating and shear stress uncertainties are computed over the hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator surface and are shown to vary due to a small fraction of 65 flowfield and radiation modeling parameters considered in the uncertainty analysis. The main contributors to the convective heating uncertainty near the stagnation point are the , , and CO–O binary collision interactions, freestream density, and freestream velocity for both boundary-layer flows. In laminar flow, exothermic recombination reactions are more important at the shoulder. The main contributors to radiative heating at the nose and flank were the dissociation rate and CO heavy-particle excitation rates, whereas the freestream density showed importance toward the shoulder. The interaction and freestream velocity and density control the wall shear stress uncertainty.

Uncertainty Quantification of Hypersonic Reentry Flows with Sparse Sampling and Stochastic Expansions

The objective of this study was to introduce a combined sparse sampling and stochastic expansion approach for efficient and accurate uncertainty quantification. The new techniques are applied to high-fidelity, hypersonic reentry flow simulations, which may contain large numbers of aleatory and epistemic uncertainties. Stochastic expansion coefficients were obtained using the point-collocation nonintrusive polynomial chaos technique with a number of samples less than the minimum number required for a total-order expansion. This study introduced two methods of measuring the accuracy of the expansion coefficients, as well as their convergence with iteratively increasing sample size. The newly developed approaches were demonstrated on two model problems. The first was a model for stagnation point, convective heat transfer in hypersonic flow. Mixed uncertainty quantification analysis results showed that accurate expansion coefficients could be obtained with half of the minimum number of samples required for a total-order expansion. The second problem was a high-fidelity, computational fluid dynamics model for radiative heat flux prediction on a hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator during Mars entry. The model consisted of 93 uncertain parameters, coming from both flowfield and radiation modeling. Results indicated that an accurate surrogate model could be obtained with only about 15% of the number of samples required for a total-order expansion when compared with previous work.