1 of 22

Application of SU2 CFD Solver to Hypersonic Flow Problems

Arun Prathap, Sai Kiran and Jayahar Sivasubramanian

Department of Aerospace engineering

M S RAMAIAH UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES

​

​

2 of 22

OBJECTIVE

  • Employ Stanford University Unstructured (SU2) CFD solver to simulate high speed flow problems.

​

  • Validate our CFD results using published results.

​

  • Compare results for two different geometries: Orion CEV and HIAD.

​

  • Compare results for equilibrium and non-equilibrium flows.

​

  • Study the effects of HIAD scalloping on the flow properties.

3 of 22

Methods and Methodology

  • SU2 is an open source software

​

  • It is a computational analysis software designed and developed to solve Multiphysics analysis and optimization tasks using unstructured mesh topologies.

​

​

Gmsh

  • It is an open source software

​

  • 3D finite element mesh generator

​

  • With built-in CAD engine

4 of 22

Re-Entry vehicle types

ORION CEV

HIAD

Designed by Lockheed Martin

Developed by NASA Langley research center

5 of 22

ORION CREW EXPLORATION VEHICLE

Flow conditions

Angle of attack

0 degree

Reynolds number

10E8

10E4

Mach number

7.8

26.7

Pressure

8670 Pa

0.32 Pa

Temperature

(Freestream)

74.1 K

195 K

Density

0.378 kg/m^3

5 x 10^-7 Kg/m^3

​

Reference geometry and flow conditions

Schematic diagram of Orion EDL module

6 of 22

Computational grid for Orion CEV

Structured Mesh

Unstructured Mesh

Inflation Layer

NOC – 396,000

NOC – 224,000

NOC – 619,000

7 of 22

Computational grid for Orion CEV

Whole domain

Refinement zone

Inflation layer

Number of cells – 689,000

Final Iteration of the computational grid

8 of 22

RESULTS – PRESSURE COMPARISON

9 of 22

RESULTS – HEATFLUX

Reference sim

Data

10 of 22

RESULTS – RANS VS NEMO

RANS

NEMO

Mach contours

11 of 22

HYPERSONIC INFLATABLE AERODYNAMIC DECELERATOR(HIAD)

WHAT IS HIAD?

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Stowed Configuration

Deployed Configuration

12 of 22

INTRO TO SCALLOPING

Stages of Scalloping

Parametric scallop details

Rt – Toroid Radius

Rsc – Scalloping Radius

βsc (deg) – Degree of Scalloping

Ksc – Scalloping deformation

13 of 22

INTIAL CONDITIONS AND SOLVER SETTINGS

Flow case

Chemically non-reacting flow

Chemically reacting non-equilibrium flow

Reynolds number

10E8

Mach number

26.7

Freestream pressure

100 Pa

Gas model

SU2 Air_5

Air_5 Mutation++

Freestream temperature

263K

Knudsen number

0.03

Governing equations

Reynolds Average Navier-Stokes (RANS)

NEMO Navier-Stokes equations

Turbulence model

Spalart - Allmaras

14 of 22

COMPUTATIONAL GRID FOR HIAD

Whole Domain

HIAD - 0

HIAD - 5

HIAD - 10

HIAD - 20

15 of 22

RESULTS – MACH CONTOURS

HIAD 0

HIAD 5

HIAD 10

HIAD 20

16 of 22

RESULTS – HEAT TRANSFER ANALYSIS

17 of 22

RESULTS – HEAT TRANSFER ANALYSIS

18 of 22

RESULTS – RANS VS NEMO (HIAD)

RANS

NEMO

Temperature contour

19 of 22

RANS Peak temperature 4051 K.

TEMPERATURE CONTOURS

RANS

NEMO

NON REACTING FLOW

CHEMICALLY REACTING

(Non Equilibrium)

RESULTS – RANS VS NEMO (ORION)

NEMO Peak temperature 2173 K.

20 of 22

SUMMARY

  • High speed flow simulations were performed using the RANS and NEMO solver in SU2.

​

  • Results for chemically non-responding flows and chemically reacting nonequilibrium flows were compared.

​

  • The ideal gas model overpredicts temperatures, but the NEMO solver utilizing Mutation++ predicts temperatures considerably more precisely and provides a far more realistic picture of the temperature distribution.

​

​

​

​

​

21 of 22

REFERENCES

  1. Hollis, B.R., 2018. Surface heating and boundary-layer transition on a hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 55(4).

​

  • Hughes, S., Cheatwood, F., Dillman, R., Calomino, A., Wright, H., DelCorso, J. and Calomino, A., 2011, May. Hypersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (HIAD) technology development overview. In 21st AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Technology Conference and Seminar (p.2524).

​

  • Calomino, Anthony, “NASA HIAD Generation 1 Flexible Thermal Protection System Development and Flight Performance”, 22nd AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Conference, Daytona Beach, FL March 25-28, 2013.

​

  • Cassell, Alan, “Design and Execution of the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator Large-Article Wind Tunnel Experiment”, 22nd AIAA Aerodynamic Decelerator Systems Conference, Daytona Beach, FL March 25-28, 2013.

​

  • Patel, Rakeshkumar K., and K. Venkatasubbaiah. "Numerical simulation of the Orion CEV reentry vehicle." Journal of Aerospace Engineering 28.2 (2015).

​

  • Maier, Walter T., et al. "SU2-NEMO: an open-source framework for high-mach nonequilibrium multi-species flows." Aerospace 8.7 (2021): 193.

​

  • Anderson, John David. Hypersonic and high temperature gas dynamics. AIAA, 2000.

​

​

22 of 22

THANK YOU