Numerical Investigation of the Effect of Capsule Half-Cone Angle on a Supersonic Parachute System
Publication: Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 29, Issue 4
Abstract
In this paper, the effects of the capsule half-cone angle on the dynamics of supersonic parachute systems are investigated. The supersonic flow over three-dimensional rigid parachute models are studied by numerically solving compressible Navier-Stokes equations. In this study, the parachute system has a capsule and a canopy. The cases with different capsule half-cone angle are carried out. The computational results show that unsteady pulsating flow fields exit in all the cases and are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data. The results also show that the capsule wake–canopy shock interaction causes a significantly higher pressure around the parachute system in comparison to the capsule shock–canopy shock interaction, thus providing the primary source of the unsteadiness in the flow field. As the capsule half-cone angle () is increased, the difference in the pressure distribution inside the canopy also increases, and the wake-shock interaction plays a more significant role in the unsteady flow mode. Moreover, when is increased, this results in weaker aerodynamic interactions, including the wake-shock and shock-shock interactions, which is favorable for a supersonic parachute system.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Anderson, W. K., Thomas, J. L., and Van Leer, B. (1986). “Comparison of finite volume flux vector splitting for the Euler equations.” AIAA J., 24(9), 1453–1460.
Barnhardt, M., Drayna, T., Nompelis, I., Candler, G. V., and Garrard, W. (2007). “Detached eddy simulations of the MSL parachute at supersonic conditions.” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reston, VA, 2529.
Cruz, J. R., and Lingard, J. (2006). “Aerodynamic decelerators for planetary exploration: Past, present, and future.” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reston, VA, 6792.
Feszty, D., Badcock, K. J., and Richards, B. E. (2004). “Driving mechanisms of high-speed unsteady spiked body flows. Part 1: Pulsation mode.” AIAA J., 42(1), 95–106.
Gidzak, V., Barnhardt, M., Drayna, T., Nompelis, I., Candler, G. V., and Garrard, W. (2008). “Simulation of fluid-structure interaction of the mars science laboratory parachute.” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reston, VA, 6910.
Gidzak, V., Barnhardt, M., Drayna, T., Nompelis, I., Candler, G. V., and Garrard, W. (2009). “Comparison of fluid-structure interaction simulation of the MSL parachute with wind tunnel tests.” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reston, VA, 2971.
Lingard, J., and Darley, M. (2005). “Simulation of parachute fluid structure interaction in supersonic flow.” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reston, VA, 1607.
Lingard, J., Darley, M., and Underwood, J. C. (2007). “Simulation of mars supersonic parachute performance and dynamics.” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reston, VA, 2507.
Nishiyama, Y. (2013). “Aerodynamic characteristics of the supersonic parachute with its opening process.” Master’s thesis, Nagoya Univ., Nagoya, Japan.
Panaras, A. G., and Drikakis, D. (2009). “High-speed unsteady flows around spiked-blunt bodies.” J. Fluid Mech., 632, 69–96.
Sengupta, A. (2011). “Fluid structure interaction of parachutes in supersonic planetary entry.” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reston, VA, 2541.
Sengupta, A., Kelsch, R., Roeder, J., Wernet, M., Witkowaski, A., and Kandis, M. (2009a). “Supersonic performance of disk-gap-band parachutes constrained to a 0-degree trim angle.” J. Spacecraft Rockets, 46(6), 1155–1163.
Sengupta, A., Steltzner, A., Witkowski, A., Candler, G., and Pantano, C. (2009b). “Findings from the supersonic qualification program of the mars science laboratory Parachute system.” American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA), Reston, VA, 2900.
Shima, E., and Jounouchi, T. (1997). “Roe of CFD in Aeronautical Engineering (No. 14)—AUSM type upwind schemes, NAL-SP30.” Proc., 14th NAL Symp. on Aircraft Computational Aerodynamics, National Aerospace Laboratory, Tokyo, 7–12.
Shu, C. W., and Osher, S. (1988). “Efficient implementation of essentially non-oscillatory shock-capturing schemes.” J. Comput. Phys., 77(2), 439–471.
Van Leer, B. (1977). “Toward the ultimate conservative difference scheme. IV. A new approach to numerical convection.” J. Comput. Phys., 23(3), 276–299.
White, F. M. (1999). Fluid mechanics, 4th Ed., McGraw Hill, New York, 295–297.
Xue, X., Koyama, H., and Nakamura, Y. (2013). “Numerical simulation on supersonic aerodynamic interaction of a parachute system.” Trans. Jpn Soc. Aeronaut. Space Sci. Aerosp. Technol. Jpn., 11, 33–42.
Xue, X., et al. (2015a). “High-speed unsteady flow pasts two-body configurations.” Phys. Fluids, in press.
Xue, X., Nishiyama, Y., Nakamura, Y., Mori, K., and Wen, C. Y. (2015b). “Parametric study on aerodynamic interaction of a supersonic parachute system.” AIAA J., 53(9), 2796–2801.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Aerospace Engineering
Volume 29 • Issue 4 • July 2016
Copyright
© 2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 30, 2014
Accepted: Nov 19, 2015
Published online: Jan 19, 2016
Discussion open until: Jun 19, 2016
Published in print: Jul 1, 2016
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.