FLOW SIMULATION OVER A BULBOUS HEAT

SHIELD FAIRING

Project Report for Third Review

MANOJ R (UR15AE064)
RANJITH KUMAR A (UR15AE076)

SIGNATURE

Guide: Dr. P Jeyajothiraj

Professor
Dept. of Aerospace Engineering

DEPARTMENT OF AEROSPACE ENGINEERING

KARUNYA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES
(Declared as Deemed-to-be-under Sec-3 of the UGC Act, 1956)

Karunya Nagar, Coimbatore - 641114.INDIA

April - 2019
 ABSTRACT

Flow simulations over bulbous heat shield are carried out using
ANSYS software. The simulations are carried out for the Mach
number range of 0.8 to 1.2 (Transonic Regime). Flow field simulation
results, shock strengths are obtained. Different configuration will be
studied to obtain a configuration which gives least shock strength.

INTRODUCTION

The payload fairing in any launch vehicle is needed to protect the

satellite from aerodynamic loading , aerodynamic heating , and other
environmental conditions during the ascent phase of the flight and to
provide an aerodynamic forward surface .The flow field visualization
over a bulbous payload shroud at transonic Mach number range is
very useful to decide the geometrical configuration for minimum
buffeting load and minimum aerodynamic drag requirement .The
terminal shock wave of sufficient strength intersecting with the
boundary layer can cause flow separation ,and the flow field may
become unstable as observed in the high speed ,it is desirable to
determine the location of the terminal shock as a function of transonic
Mach numbers. The strength of terminal shock and the mechanism of
its interaction are related to the specific configuration of the heat
shield satellite launch vehicle.
The features of the transonic flow field can be delineated through
these experimental investigations. It is characterized by a terminal
shock, supersonic pocket on the cylindrical region of the heat shield,
shock wave-turbulent boundary layer interaction, and a separated
bubble that may be caused by the shock wave-turbulent boundary
layer on the cylindrical section of the heat shield. In the boat-tail
region, a local separation results due to sharp discontinuity in the
longitudinal direction of the payload shroud. The regions of flow
separation impose additional complexity to aerodynamic and
structural design aspects .The pressure fluctuations that originated at
the location of the normal shock wave within the regions of separation
can cause buffeting problem. The occurrence of buffeting of vehicle
during transonic range depends primarily on the geometrical
parameters of the payload shroud. The complex flow field at the
transonic speeds is also observed during the wind-tunnel testing of
the bulbous heat shield.
The present study employs a computational fluid dynamics approach
to analyse a complex fluid dynamics problem of the launch vehicle in
the transonic Mach number range. The time-dependent,
compressible ,turbulent Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations
are solved using a finite volume dicretization in conjunction with a
three-stage Runge–Kutta time-stepping scheme.

OBJECTIVE:

To study the effects of shock wave movements on the nose cone body.
To obtain the flow parameters from the simulations and derive the
shock strength.
METHODOLOGY:
Studying different type of PLF configuration , Modeling of bulbous
heat shield using CATIA V5, CFD Simulation using Fluent in the
transonic regime (Mach 0.8 to 1.2), And determination of the shock
strength.

RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

MODELING OF SHARP NOSE CONE:

MAKING ENCLOSURE:
CREATING DOMAIN:

MESHING THE MODEL:

ITERATION AT MACH 0.8:THE SOLUTION IS CONVERGED

PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AT 0.8:

Pressure distribution plot:

ITERATION AT MACH 0.9: THE SOLUTION IS CONVERGED

PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AT 0.9:

Pressure distribution plot:

ITERATION AT MACH 1.0: THE SOLUTION IS CONVERGED
PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AT MACH 1.0:

ITERATION AT MACH 1.1:THE SOLUTION IS CONVERGED

PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AT MACH 1.1:

ITERATIONAT MACH 1.2:THE SOLUTION IS CONVERGED

PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AT MACH 1.2:

MODELING OF PSLV NOSE CONE:

MESHING OF BLUNT NOSE CONE:

ITERATION AT MACH 0.8:THE SOLUTION IS CONVERGED
PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AT MACH 0.8:

Pressure distribution plot:

ITERATION AT MACH 0.9:

ITERATION AT MACH 1.0:

ITERATION AT MACH 1.1:

ITERATION AT MACH 1.2:

PRESSURE DISTRIBUTION AT MACH 1.2:

Pressure distribution plot:

Pressure distribution plot in sharp cone at mach 0.8 :

Pressure distribution plot in sharp cone at mach 0.9:

Pressure distribution plot in sharp cone at mach 1.0:

Pressure distribution plot in sharp cone at mach1.1:

Pressure contour for sharp cone at mach 0.8:

Pressure contour for sharp cone at mach 0.9:

Pressure contour for sharp cone at mach 1.0:

Pressure contour for sharp cone at mach 1.1:
The numerical simulations are carried out over the bulbous heat shield of a
satellite launch vehicle at transonic Mach number. The pressure fluctuations are
computed at different location on the model.
The wall pressure fluctuations may arise as an effect of unsteady pressure
associated to the turbulent velocity field. The Mach variation on the flow
physics is the change of the location of the intense shock wave which is
originally generated on the fairing and moves towards the booster for Mach
approaching unity. From the acoustic point of view, it is observed that the most
critical situation correspond to M∞ = 0.80, where a significant unsteadiness of
the shock wave is observed. The flow separation on the payload shroud is
caused by the terminal shock wave. The shock-induced separated flow on the
cone-cylinder is not found for the heat shield with a cone angle of 15 deg. As
freestream Mach number increases, the terminal shock moves downstream and
the local supersonic zone increases rapidly. The terminal shock becomes so
strong that, as a result of a shock wave-boundary layer interaction, boundary
layer separation occurs and it is the function of shock strength, geometrical
parameter of the heat shield and freestream Mach number.
From the simulations, we can see that pressure fluctuations is less in blunt nose
cone configuration. So it is preferred for a steady bulbous launch vehicle
configuration.
WORK SCHEDULE:
TASK DECEMBER JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH APRIL
Literature
Survey.
Designing of
bulbous nose cones
in catia v5.

Exporting of files
and simulation of
cones in fluent.

Designing of
different PLF
configurations.
Exporting of files
and simulation of
PLF to fluent.
Study of shock
findings on PLF
configuration.
Calculating the
shock Strength on
PLF configurations.
Documentation.
REFERENCES:

1. Pranav Mahamuni and Pratik Bhansali.., “Aerodynamic Study of Payload Fairing,

International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and
Technology. Vol. 4, Issue 3,Pg:49-51, March 2015.

2. K Manokaran and P Jeyajothiraj..,“Simulation of flow over various payload fairing

configuration in transonic Mach numbers’’, Proceedings of the 23rd National
Convention of Aerospace engineers,Vol2,No.3,Pg:34-36,Nov.24-25,2015,Hyderabad.

3. S.Parameshwari, J.Bruce Ralphin Rose,G.Vidya, K.Manokaran, Peter

Jeyajothiraj,“Simulation of transonic flow over a multibody launch vehicle’’,
International Conference on Advanced Research in Mechanical
Engineering(ICARME), Vol.44,No.1,Pg:123-134, Coimbatore,India,21st April 2013.

4. Senthikumar, Mahesh M.S. and P.Jeyajothiraj, “Effects of diameter increase on the

flow and aeroacoustic characteristics of bulbous heat shield at transonic mach
numbers”,march 3-6,2008,pg196-201,The 2nd International Symposium on Recent
advance in experimental fluid mechanics, Koneru Laxshmiah College of
Engineering, Vaddeswaram, Andra Pradesh.

5. M Prasath, K Hariharan ,V R Ganesan, M M Patil ,T Arun Kumar & K N Murugan ,

“Effect of Strap-On Nose Shape on Aeroacoustics of a Bulbous Heat Shield Launch
Vehicle”, Proceedings of the 6th International and 43rd National Conference on
Fluid Mechanics and Fluid Power , (FMFP)2016–PAPER NO.574. December 15-17,
2016, MNNITA, Allahabad, U.P., India.