A numerical investigation of clustered spheres separating in Mach 20 flow
A numerical investigation of clustered spheres separating in Mach 20 flow
In the current study, the separation of equal-sized spheres from initial touching configurations at Mach 20 is examined through numerical simulations using a coupled CFD/FEA solver. Comparison of computational results with free-flight wind tunnel trajectories is conducted, and modest dependence on viscosity is observed, namely in the form of enhanced drag, although errors in lateral velocity are deemed low enough for computational results to be considered representative of actual sphere motions. A survey of two initially touching spheres at various alignment angles reveals a bimodal distribution of separation behaviors, with a stable region of persistent contact detected. From a different survey of four spheres arranged in the form of a tetrahedron, the final lateral velocity is correlated to initial polar positioning in the cluster, and a common assumption of purely radial spreading is supported by minimal changes in azimuthal positioning. Finally, a reduced parameterization of tetrahedron orientation allows for characterization of collective separation velocities and center-of-mass motion.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Whalen, Thomas
fee7ee3e-24db-4b5d-8f67-f467a878c886
Deiterding, Ralf
ce02244b-6651-47e3-8325-2c0a0c9c6314
Laurence, Stuart J.
c9870caa-b37e-4ee1-b4a4-3b348c2f9bc0
8 June 2020
Whalen, Thomas
fee7ee3e-24db-4b5d-8f67-f467a878c886
Deiterding, Ralf
ce02244b-6651-47e3-8325-2c0a0c9c6314
Laurence, Stuart J.
c9870caa-b37e-4ee1-b4a4-3b348c2f9bc0
Whalen, Thomas, Deiterding, Ralf and Laurence, Stuart J.
(2020)
A numerical investigation of clustered spheres separating in Mach 20 flow.
In Proceedings AIAA 2020 Aviation Forum.
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
19 pp
.
(doi:10.2514/6.2020-2970).
Record type:
Conference or Workshop Item
(Paper)
Abstract
In the current study, the separation of equal-sized spheres from initial touching configurations at Mach 20 is examined through numerical simulations using a coupled CFD/FEA solver. Comparison of computational results with free-flight wind tunnel trajectories is conducted, and modest dependence on viscosity is observed, namely in the form of enhanced drag, although errors in lateral velocity are deemed low enough for computational results to be considered representative of actual sphere motions. A survey of two initially touching spheres at various alignment angles reveals a bimodal distribution of separation behaviors, with a stable region of persistent contact detected. From a different survey of four spheres arranged in the form of a tetrahedron, the final lateral velocity is correlated to initial polar positioning in the cluster, and a common assumption of purely radial spreading is supported by minimal changes in azimuthal positioning. Finally, a reduced parameterization of tetrahedron orientation allows for characterization of collective separation velocities and center-of-mass motion.
Text
whalen_etal_AIAA_062020
- Accepted Manuscript
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 1 June 2020
Published date: 8 June 2020
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
T. J. Whalen was supported by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved.
Venue - Dates:
AIAA 2020 Aviation Forum, Virtual, 2020-06-15 - 2020-06-19
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 441565
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/441565
PURE UUID: 70cb4fbb-6736-421a-b5c9-fa844492b4ef
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 18 Jun 2020 16:30
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:39
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Thomas Whalen
Author:
Stuart J. Laurence
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
