Aeroassisted planetary entry uses atmospheric drag to decelerate spacecraft from super-orbital to orbital or suborbital velocities. Numerical simulation of flow fields surrounding these spacecraft during hypersonic atmospheric entry is required to define aerothermal loads. The severe compression in the shock layer in front of the vehicle and subsequent, rapid expansion into the wake are characterized by high temperature, thermo-chemical nonequilibrium processes. Implicit algorithms required for efficient, stable computation of the governing equations involving disparate time scales of convection, diffusion, chemical reactions, and thermal relaxation are discussed. Robust point-implicit strategies are utilized in the initialization phase; less robust but more efficient line-implicit strategies are applied in the endgame. Applications to ballutes (balloon-like decelerators) in the atmospheres of Venus, Mars, Titan, Saturn, and Neptune and a Mars Sample Return Orbiter (MSRO) are featured. Examples are discussed where time-accurate simulation is required to achieve a steady-state solution.


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    Title :

    Computational Aerothermodynamics in Aeroassist Applications


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    15th AIAA Computational Fluid Dynamics Conference ; 2001 ; Anaheim, CA, United States


    Publication date :

    2001-01-19


    Type of media :

    Preprint


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English


    Keywords :






    AIAA-2001-2632 Computational Aerothermodynamics in Aeroassist Applications

    Gnoffo, P. / American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2001