Centerline Heating Methodology for use in Preliminary
Design Studies
Author(s)
Martinelli, Scott K.
Advisor(s)
Braun, Robert D.
Editor(s)
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Abstract
The initial design of aerospace entry systems requires rapid but accurate predictions of
vehicle performance across the fields of structures, aerodynamics, guidance and
thermodynamics. A methodology for an increase in the fidelity of aerothermodynamic
heating with a minimal impact on simulation time is presented. An investigation of the
fidelity levels and associated complexity of different engineering relations has been
conducted which demonstrates the usefulness and applicability of stagnation point and
streamline heating methods. In order to increase the fidelity of stagnation point methods, a
curve fit for the effective nose radius of arbitrary blunt bodies has been established. The
effective nose radius formulation utilizes the Configuration Based Aerodynamic (CBAERO)
program to model effective nose radius as a function of Mach number, dynamic pressure,
and altitude for a wide range of geometries and angles of attack. In addition, a program has
been developed to model the heating along the windward centerline. This program uses a
mix of engineering-level relations for aerodynamic heating both on and off the stagnation
point. The development of the boundary layer heating model along the vehicle centerline and
the associated boundary layer edge conditions is shown. The program is able to calculate
heating distributions on axisymmetric bodies and heating along the windward centerline for
general geometries at angle of attack. The results have shown good validation to CBAERO
and experimental results. Finally, an integrated vehicle and trajectory design space
exploration is given for Prompt Global Strike missions which demonstrates the design
improvement afforded by the centerline heating model with integrated TPS sizing. This is
shown through a Pareto frontier shift in a comparison of range versus payload volume
metric, as well as key locations of thermal impact on maximum downrange and geometry
configuration.
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Date
2010-08-01
Extent
Resource Type
Text
Resource Subtype
Masters Project
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