Launch vehicles are exposed to ground winds during rollout and on the launch pad that can induce static and dynamic loads. Of particular concern are the dynamic loads caused by vortex shedding from nearly-cylindrical structures. When the frequency of vortex shedding nears that of a lowly-damped structural mode, the dynamic loads can be more than an order of magnitude greater than mean drag loads. Accurately predicting vehicle response to vortex shedding during the design and analysis cycles is difficult and typically exceeds the practical capabilities of modern computational fluid dynamics codes. Therefore, mitigating the ground wind loads risk typically requires wind-tunnel tests of dynamically-scaled models that are time consuming and expensive to conduct. In recent years, NASA has developed a ground wind loads analysis tool for launch vehicles to fill this analytical capability gap in order to provide predictions for prelaunch static and dynamic loads. This paper includes a background of the ground wind loads problem and the current state-of-the-art. It then discusses the history and significance of the analysis tool and the methodology used to develop it. Finally, results of the analysis tool are compared to wind-tunnel and full-scale data of various geometries and Reynolds numbers.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    Aeroelastic Ground Wind Loads Analysis Tool for Launch Vehicles


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    AIAA SciTech Conference ; 2016 ; San Diego, CA, United States


    Publication date :

    2016-01-04


    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English





    Aeroelastic Ground Wind Loads Analysis Tool for Launch Vehicles (AIAA 2016-2047)

    Ivanco, Thomas G. | British Library Conference Proceedings | 2016



    Effect of Reynolds Number and Aeroelastic Scaling Upon Launch-Vehicle Ground-Wind Loads

    Ivanco, Thomas G. / Keller, Donald F. / Pinkerton, Jennifer L. | AIAA | 2024