Development of an adaptive strand-Cartesian solver in 2D for non-equilibrium aerothermodynamics simulations

Abstract

The extreme conditions experienced in hypersonic flight can be difficult to reproduce in ground test facilities. As such, the use of computational simulations is vital in the design of Thermal Protection Systems (TPSs) for hypersonic vehicles. Many TPSs use materials that ablate and this leads to changes in shape of the body with time. As such, the computational mesh needs to be updated, whilst maintaining a high resolution in the shock and boundary layer regions, which can require significant user input. In this work, a prototype strand/Cartesian Adaptive Mesh Refinement (CAMR) solver has been created using the AMROC (Adaptive Mesh Refinement in Object-oriented C++) framework, that enables meshes to be generated with minimal user input. The strand/CAMR technique combines a “strand” mesh, grown from a discretised surface, in the nearbody region with an adaptive Cartesian mesh in the off-body region in order to highly resolve off-body shocks and boundary layers. The development of the off-body and near-body two-temperature Navier-Stokes solvers, and the overset algorithms used to join the two regions, is described. A series of test cases that aim to verify and validate the hypersonic 2D/axisymmetric strand/CAMR solver are presented. An order-of-accruacy test is carried out on an overset domain to verify the implementation of the new spatial and time integration methods. A high-enthalpy experiment is simulated in order to validate the new solver and investigate the influence of the overset mesh on heat flux predictions. Finally, the automated surface deformation enabled by the new solver is demonstrated through the simulation of a recessing nose tip. The results indicate that the strand/CAMR technique can be used to accurately simulate vehicles in hypersonic flows and offers a high level of automation.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for Chay William Charles Atkins: orcid.org/0000-0001-9243-4903

ORCID for Ralf Deiterding: orcid.org/0000-0003-4776-8183

Catalogue record

Export record