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Computational Flow Analysis of Apollo Re-Entry Vehicle using ANSYS

Article · December 2017

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 International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Sciences
IJCMS
ISSN 2347 – 8527
Volume 6, Issue 12
December 2017

Computational Flow Analysis of Apollo Re-Entry Vehicle using

ANSYS
Dr. S.Thanigaiarasu
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai, India
Kamil
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai, India
Chitimada Narendra Kumar
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Madras Institute of Technology, Chennai, India

ABSTRACT
Themainobjectiveofthispresentinvestigationistoanalysestheflowover Apollore-entry vehicle. Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) has been used to study the hypersonic fluid flow over the reentry vehicle that develops the flow
structure. Re-entry vehicle is designed with blunt in shape to withstand high aerodynamic heating experienced during
entry phase into the atmosphere. The region between the vehicle geometry and the far-field is particularly critical with
respect to the formation of the shock. The present work deals with the study and analysis of Apollo geometry at various
hypersonic Mach numbers 6, 10 and 15. The geometry was created by using ANSYS FLUENT and suitable grid size for
perfect meshing along with boundary condition were applied to run the simulation. The present investigation mainly
focuses on
variationofshockpropertiesduringthereentryphasealone.Thevariationofdensity,pressureandtemperaturearetaken as direct
measurement of reentry vehicle performance.
Keywords Atmospheric re-entry, Aerodynamic Heating, Hypersonic Flow, CFD, Blunt body.

1. INTRODUCTION
A re-entry vehicle is a type of spacecraft that is designed to return back to the Earth atmosphere and with
standing in high heating loads that are imposed on the vehicle due to nonlinear shock structure during re-entry
phase. Since the front area design has been considered for most of the hypersonic
applications.ForEarth,atmosphericentryoccursbelowtheKarmanlineatanaltitudeof100km(62 mi) above the
surface. When a re-entering vehicle enters into atmospheric environment, a strong
detachedshock(bowshock)waveisformed.Incaseofblunt-shapedsurfacefacingdowncomesback to Earth, the
shock wave in front of the vehicle is detached shock because of high flow deflection
angles(ɵ),whichcausestheshocktoformatadistancefromthevehiclefrontface.Theaimofcurrent work is to study
the effect of fluid flow over reentry vehicle at three different Mach numbers suchas
6,10and15bykeepingangleofattackzero.Computationalfluiddynamicsisthetoolusedtoobtain the flow field that
develops around re-entry capsules. With this evaluate the temperature variation, pressure distribution, density
variation and velocity profiles at various locations of the far-field.

2. METHODOLOGY

Analyses the meshed geometry in

Creating a required model of re- Import the geometry into a a CFD program by setting the
entry vehicle in ANSYS. meshing program. Design parameters and Boundary
conditions.

Post-processing the output.

Evaluate the Results.

182 Dr. S.Thanigaiarasu, Kamil, Chitimada Narendra Kumar

 International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Sciences
IJCMS
ISSN 2347 – 8527
Volume 6, Issue 12
December 2017

3. MODELLING OF APOLLO VEHICLE

The dimensions of the Apollo reentry vehicle has been taken from the literature survey. The Apollo capsule
has a spherical blunt nose diameter of 3.95 m, spherical nose radius of 4.595 m andshoulder radius of 0.186m.
The back shell has an inclination angle of 33° relative to the vehicle axis of symmetry and the overall length
of the module is 3.391m.

Fig 1.Apollo Geometry Fig 2. Computational geometry

4. NUMERICAL PROCEDURE
Domain over the geometry is created to generate artificial environment as like experimental setup, the size of
domain should be ten times greater than the geometry value. The suitable mesh has been computed over the
surface of the capsule. The mesh should be very fine near the shoulder part. The total number of nodes and
elements are 12285 and 12013 respectively. Surface over the body is
importantareaforanalysisthemeshisveryfineandaccurate.Themeshsizeisverysmallinthisarea in order to get
desired result. The mesh size is very fine at the vehicle fore body and the grid is orthogonal in shape. The
skewness and growth rate are maintained according to the desired conditions.

Fig 3.Domain Fig 4. Meshing

183 Dr. S.Thanigaiarasu, Kamil, Chitimada Narendra Kumar

 International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Sciences
IJCMS
ISSN 2347 – 8527
Volume 6, Issue 12
December 2017

4.1 BOUNDARY CONDITIONS

The Spalart–Allmaras(SA) model was used to analyze the turbulent flow which gives desired result in
hypersonic applications. The model uses control volume technique to convert the governing equations in to
algebraic equations. Ideal gas is considered for the analysis, the solver used is density based since the problem
deals with compressible characteristics and shock properties. Initial wall temperature, inlet total pressure and
total temperature are specified and the viscosity is based on the Sutherland formulation and at the solid walls
no slip boundary condition is imposed. The code has been successfully validated with the benchmark
solutions, and solution steering technique is used for variation of courant number.
Mach number = 6, 10 & 15 The Altitude = 45.7 km Static Pressure = 130.5 Pa Static Temperature = 267 K
Angle of Attack = 0°

5. RESULTS ANDDISCUSSION5.1 PRESSURE CONTOURS

Fig 5: Pressure Contours for Mach number 6

Fig 6: Pressure Contours for Mach number 10

184 Dr. S.Thanigaiarasu, Kamil, Chitimada Narendra Kumar

 International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Sciences
IJCMS
ISSN 2347 – 8527
Volume 6, Issue 12
December 2017

Fig 7: Pressure Contours for Mach number 15

Fig 8: Variation of Pressure with Mach number

Figures 5-8 show the variation of static pressure with respect to Mach Number and
itisobservedthatthestaticpressureisincreasingrapidlywithincreaseinMach number and for all the cases strong
detached shock is formed which is due to the to the blunt shape of the vehicle. The shock structure moves
towards the reentry vehicle with increase in Mach number. The flow deflection angle is more than the limited
angle with Mach number and which also one reason for strong detached shock. Thestatic pressure is 10^6 for
Mach number 6 case, whereas the static pressure is very high and it is 10^7 for higher Mach numbers than 6
i.e. 10 and 15.When the Mach number is increasing the flow filed near the front face is more viscid in nature,
which results in rapid increment of static pressure and the
propertiesaheadandbehindtheshockarechangeddrastically.The percentage of increment in pressure is 25 % for Mach
number 10 and it is 45% for Mach number 15 with comparison of Mach number
6.Themaximumstaticpressureisoccurred at the center point of the front face for all the three different

185 Dr. S.Thanigaiarasu, Kamil, Chitimada Narendra Kumar

 International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Sciences
IJCMS
ISSN 2347 – 8527
Volume 6, Issue 12
December 2017

Machnumbers. When the far field considered from the reentry vehicle which is having same static pressure for
all three different Mach numbers which depicts that the impact of reentry vehicle influence is limited to
certain range only according to Mach number. The shock strength is defined by using the static pressures from
downstream and upstream, which decides the shock thickness and shock influence on the reentry vehicle. The
energy loss is more for the Mach number 15 compared to Mach numbers 6 and 10, because it have lesser
pressure ratios compared to Mach no 15.The pressure ratio can be taken as direct measurement for defining
the shock structure and flow field properties by using the Mach number as main parameter.The minimum
static pressure is 130.5 Pascal’s for all the different Mach numbers at that particular altitude.

5.2 DENSITY CONTOURS

Fig 9: Density contours for Mach Number 6

Fig 10: Density contours for Mach Number 10

186 Dr. S.Thanigaiarasu, Kamil, Chitimada Narendra Kumar

 International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Sciences
IJCMS
ISSN 2347 – 8527
Volume 6, Issue 12
December 2017

Fig 11: Density contours for Mach Number 15

Fig 12: Variation of density with Mach number

Figures9-12 show density changes with respect to Mach numbers and it is quite similar to pressure variation
with respect to Mach numbers from the above figure 8, but the values of density differs. Its shows the density
variation on the body to far field. Basically the value of density is very less at higher altitudes when compared
to atmospheric density, but here the flow field associated with the strong shock formation which makes the
density values ten times higher than the atmospheric density. Density variation is increasing rapidly with
increase in Mach number and the detached shock moving towards the body with increase in Mach number.
The percentage of increment in density is 8% and 14% for Mach numbers 10 and 15 when compared with the
Mach number 6, which is same as pressure but the amount of variation is differs. The
densityvariationhelpsindepictingtheshockstrengthandshockbehaviorwithrespecttoaltitudesince
athigheraltitudethedensityislesscomparedtoatmosphericconditions.Themaximumdensity is occurred at the
center point of the front face for all the three different Mach numbers. The density variation is predominant at

187 Dr. S.Thanigaiarasu, Kamil, Chitimada Narendra Kumar

 International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Sciences
IJCMS
ISSN 2347 – 8527
Volume 6, Issue 12
December 2017

Mach number 15 when compared to Mach numbers 6 and 10.At the center point density is higher which is
same as pressure, there onwards there is decrement in density value in downstream. The density taken as ideal
gas condition which is for all the three different Mach numbers at the far field from the reentry vehicle center
point. The change in density is due to shock boundary layer interaction, which causes the flow to decelerate
very faster rate,the flow in this case is hypersonic flows, the density changes faster than the velocity changes.

5.3 VELOCITY CONTOURS

Fig 13: Velocity contours for Mach Number 6

Fig 14: Velocity contours for Mach Number 10

Fig 15: Velocity contours for Mach Number 15

188 Dr. S.Thanigaiarasu, Kamil, Chitimada Narendra Kumar

 International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Sciences
IJCMS
ISSN 2347 – 8527
Volume 6, Issue 12
December 2017

Fig 16: Variation of Velocity with Mach number

Figures 13-16show the variation of velocity with Mach number and observing that the velocity change is rapid
with increase in Mach number and velocityatthecenter point of the vehicle
islesscomparedtotheupstreamconditionsbecausethestrong bowshockmakestheflow to retard very fast which
makes the velocity reduction. The velocity near tip point of the front face is almost zero for all three cases i.e.
it can be called as stagnation point. The variation of velocity is huge for the Mach no 15 case when compared
with the remaining cases. The percentage of increment in velocity is 43% for Mach number 10 with
comparison of Mach number 6 and it is 63% for Mach number 15 when compared with the Mach no 6.The
amount of velocity percentage change is very high compared to pressure changes and density changes, since
the flow field deals with higher hypersonic Mach numbers. The velocity at the distance 3.5 m is same for all
the three Mach numbers and later on it attains the peaks in magnitudes for all cases. The sudden drop of
velocity at 3.8 m is due to sudden formation of strong detached shock and then flow establishes itself to move
further. The maximum velocity obtained for Mach number 15 is 4900.The ratio of velocity ahead and behind
the shock is maximum for Mach number 15 case when compared with the Mach number 6 and Mach number
10.

CONCLUSIONS
Behavior of flow around a blunt body Apollo re-entering vehicle into the atmosphere was predicted through
computational analysis. It is concluded that density value change with the change in the Mach number and it is
huge for Mach number 15 at the center of the front face of the vehicle. The static pressure value is increase
rapidly with increase in the Mach number, which increases the shock strength for each Mach number .The
maximum value of static pressure is found at the center of the front face of the vehicle at Mach number
15.The velocity values become zero at the center of the front face of the vehicle in all the case, the variation of
velocity is huge for Mach number 15.The variation in the flow properties because increase in Mach
numberdecreases the bow shock layer length which means the shock moves toward the vehicle.The present
study is involved with zero angle of attack only and in future one can go for change in angle of attacks and
heat transfer boundary conditions.

189 Dr. S.Thanigaiarasu, Kamil, Chitimada Narendra Kumar

 International Journal of Computer & Mathematical Sciences
IJCMS
ISSN 2347 – 8527
Volume 6, Issue 12
December 2017

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[3] N.S.Harshavardhan.R;Sanjana.K;SaiSharan.K;Srinivas.G“ComputationalFlowAnalysis OfHypersonicRe-
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[4] R.C.Mehta,”Computations of Flowfield over Reentry Modules at High Speed” (www.intechopen.com)
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[6] Sheikh Arslan Ali, Dr. Mukkarum Husain, Dr. M. Nauman Qureshi “Effects of Nose-Bluntness Ratio on
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190 Dr. S.Thanigaiarasu, Kamil, Chitimada Narendra Kumar

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