Design of a Hot Plume Interaction Facility at DLR Cologne

Abstract

Space transportation systems are exposed to high thermal and mechanical loads during the ascend in the transonic flow regime. By now, there are still many uncertainties, which can not be solved with state of the art computational fluid dynamic models or experiments with cold jet flows. A test facility with a high degree of similarity to flight with respect to the influence of the hot nozzle flow can contribute to improve the understanding of interaction effects between the hot nozzle flow and the ambient flow by providing reliable data for validation. The objective of the paper at hand is to present the work progress on such a facility. Issues and challenges concerning the base flows are discussed and potential research areas for investigations are considered. Relevant conditions during the ascend of Ariane 5 are used as baseline and appropriate scaling laws are discussed to conclude requirements for the operational conditions for the existing wind tunnel Vertical Test Section Cologne (VMK). These operational conditions are used to develop a concept. After a proof of concept is given by CFD calculations, details to the supply system including the operational range are described and opposed to existing test benches without interaction capabilities.