Numerical Simulation for the CTV Capsule

Abstract

This report presents numerical results for two points of the reentry trajectory of the capsule concept for the European "Crew Transport Vehicle" (CTV). The computations are performed with the DLR CEVCATS code, solving the full Navier-Stokes equations for laminar and turbulent hypersonic flows in thermochemical equilibrium. Furthermore, for the laminar case the hypothesis of perfect gas is also considered. The emphasis of the study is put on the validation of the computed results. The numerical accuracy is addressed throughout gird density studies. While for the flow topology no grid independent solutions are achieved due to large areas of separated flow which varies from grid to grid, for all test cases grid convergence is clearly demonstrated. Indeed, when varying the grid density most of the test cases shown maximum differences on aerodynamic coefficients of about 2% and on peak heating of 15%.