Multi-body launch vehicle flowfield simulation

D e t a i l e d 3-D v i scous supe rson i c f l o w f i e l d s i m u l a t i o n s a r e c a r r i e d o u t f o r a g e n e r i c bu lbous f a i r i n g s i n g l e body and a complex mu l t i body system, c o n s i s t i n g o f a c o r e body and a s t rap -on s o l i d r o c k e t motor (SRM) l aunch v e h i c l e c o n f i g u r a t i o n . The two c o r e bod ies a r e v e r y s i m i l a r . An e f f i c i e n t and a c c u r a t e i m p l i c i t l i n e r e l a x a t i o n TVD Nav ier -Stokes code i s used t o o b t a i n t h e s o l u t i o n w i t h f i n e g r i d s t r u c t u r e f o r c a p t u r i n g t h e v i scous s e p a r a t i o n and rea t tachmen t phenomena. Computed p ressu re d i s t r i b u t i o n s a r e i n v e r y good agreement w i t h a v a i l a b l e measurements. Us ing t h e f l o w f i e l d o v e r t h e s i n g l e body conf i g u r a t i o n as a b a s e l i n e , t h e d r a s t i c e f f e c t s of t h e SRM on t h e f l o w f i e l d o v e r t h e co re body can be c l e a r l y i d e n t i f i e d . Three o f t hese e f f e c t s a r e presented i n t h i s pape r : ( 1 ) t h e sur face p r e s s u r e d i s t r i b u t i o n , ( 2 ) t h e r e c i r c u l a t i o n bubb les , and (3) t h e v o r t e x r o l l up.