Research on Aeroheating of Complicated Hypersonic Reentry Vehicles

The structure of a complicated hypersonic reentry vehicle flow and the resulting pressure and heat transfer have been studied by numerical study. The compressible Navier-Stokes equations are solved by the finite-volume method. SST k-ω turbulence model is used, and comparisons are made with wind tunnel test results. Attention was focused on assessing the effects of Mach number. The results show that Mach number can significantly alter the wake flow structure and reentry vehicle base pressure and heating distributions. The results of the simulation may provide a theoretical basis for the design of the thermal protection system of hypersonic reentry vehicles.