Aerothermodynamics of the ARD: Postflight Numerics and Shock-Tunnel Experiments

Abstract

A postflight investigation of the hypersonic aerothermodynamics of the European Space Agency's Atmospheric Reentry Demonstrator has been undertaken. As part of the investigation, experimental work was conducted on a scale model of the capsule in the HEG shock tunnel and, in parallel, computational fluid dynamic simulations of the experiment were produced. Presented in this paper are descriptions of the numerical and experimental techniques, and results for heat transfer and pressure distributions over the model. We particularly focus on the integration of numerical and experimental methods as a way to improve results, and to help uncover and overcome deficiencies inherent to both techniques. Numerical simulation is also used to gauge the effects of nonuniformity and high-temperature flow processes in the shock-tunnel test flow.