22nd Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Harrogate, UK, 28 August - 1st September, 2000
Paper ICAS 2000-2.3.3

FLOW SIMULATION OVER A COMPLETE SATELLITE LAUNCHER WITH A CLUSTER CONFIGURATION

J. L. F. Azevedo , E. Basso , L. C. Q. Yagua , A. P. Antunes
CTA/IAE/ASE-N, Brazil

Keywords: cfd, satellite launcher, euler equations, chimera technique

The paper is concerned with the development and validation of a 3-D flow simulation capability which would allow the calculation of flowfields over realistic launch vehicle configurations. The formulation here implemented uses the Chimera technique together with block structured grids to discretize the computational domain. The current approach is based on the solution of the 3-D Euler equations in curvilinear coordinates. A finite difference method is applied to these equations and a centered spatial discretization is used. Artificial dissipation terms, based on a scalar, nonisotropic model, are added. The time march process is accomplished with a 5-stage, 2nd-order accurate, Runge-Kutta scheme. The methodology is validated through the simulation of flows inside a 3-D convergent-divergent nozzle within which a cylinder has been inserted. The simulation capability is applied to study the flowfield over the first Brazilian Satellite Launch Vehicle, VLS, during its first-stage flight. VLS results are compared to available experimental data.

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