• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.614-622
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• 2017

The characteristics of aerodynamic drag for Transonic Vehicle in Evacuated Tube was investigated using computational fluid dynamics. At first, parametric study on the system was performed according to the Mach number of the vehicle's speed ($Mach_v$), evacuated pressure of the tube ($Pre_t$), and blockage ratio (BR) between the vehicle and tube via axisymmetric flow analysis; the $Mach_v$ ranged from 0.3 to 1.0. The $Pre_t$ was 100, 1,000 and 10,000 Pa and the BR was 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4. In the calculations, the aerodynamic drag of the vehicle was larger when the BR and the pressure became larger. Concerning the $Mach_v$, the drag coefficient ($C_d$) became the maximum when the $Mach_v$ was near the Kantrowitz limit and decreased, which showed the typical transonic flow pattern. Then, three dimensional flow analysis was performed by changing the $Mach_v$ from 0.3 to 1.0 and setting the BR and the $Pre_t$ as 0.34 and 100 Pa, respectively by referring the Hyperloop Alpha documentation. From the calculations, the $C_d$ from three dimensional flow simulations were somewhat larger than those of axisymmetric ones because of the eccentricity of the vehicle inside the tube. However, the pattern of $C_d$ according to the $Mach_v$ was compatible with that of axisymmetric ones.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2021

During atmospheric ascent of a launch vehicle, airborne acoustic loads act on the vehicle and its effect becomes pronounced at transonic speed. In the present study, acoustic loads acting on a hammerhead launch vehicle at a transonic speed have been analyzed using ��-ω SST based IDDES and the results including mean Cp, Cprms, and PSD are compared to available wind-tunnel test data. Mesh dependency of IDDES results has been investigated and it has been concluded that with an appropriate turbulence scale-resolving computational mesh, the characteristic flow features around a transonic hammerhead launch vehicle such as separated shear flow at fairing shoulder and its reattachment on rear body as well as large pressure fluctuation in the region of separated flow behind the boat-tail can be predicted with reasonable accuracy for engineering purposes.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.371-385
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• 2020

A forward-facing aerospike attached to a payload fairing of a satellite launch vehicle significantly alters its flowfield and decreases the aerodynamic drag in transonic and low supersonic speeds. The present payload fairing is an axisymmetric configuration and consists of a blunt-nosed body along with a conical section, payload shroud, boat tail and followed by a booster. The main purpose of the present numerical simulations is to evaluate flowfield and assess the performance of aerodynamic drag coefficient with and without aerospike attached to a payload fairing of a typical satellite launch vehicle in freestream Mach number range 0.8 ≤ M_∞ ≤ 3.0 and freestream Reynolds number range 33.35 × 10⁶/m ≤ Re_∞ ≤ 46.75 × 10⁶/m whichincludes the maximum aerodynamic drag and maximum dynamic conditions during ascent flight trajectory of the satellite launch vehicle. A numerical simulation has been carried out to solve time-dependent compressible turbulent axisymmetric Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations. The closure of the system of equations is achieved using the Baldwin-Lomax turbulence model. The aerodynamic drag reduction mechanism is analysed employing numerical results such as velocity vector plots, density and Mach contours in conjunction with the experimental flow visualization pictures. The variations of wall pressure coefficient over the payload fairing with and without aerospike are exhibiting different kind of flowfield characteristics in the transonic and low supersonic speeds. The numerically computed results are compared with schlieren pictures, oil flow patterns and measured wall pressure distributions and exhibit good agreement between them.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.53-59
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• 2011

In this study, steady and unsteady aerodynamic analyses of a huge rocket configuration have been conducted in a transonic flow region. The launch vehicle structural response are coupled with the transonic flow state transitions at the nose of the payload fairing. Before performing the coupled fluid-structure transonic aeroealstic simulations transonic aerodynamic characteristics are investigated for the pitching motions of the rocket at finite angle-of-attack. An unsteady CFD analysis method with a moving grid technique based on the Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with the k-w SST transition turbulence model is applied to accurately predict the transonic loads of the rocket at pitching motion. It is shown that the fluctuating amplitude of the lateral aerodynamic loads imposed on the rocket due to the pitching motion can be significantly increased in the transonic flow region.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.457-464
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• 2021

To analyze the buffet phenomenon that causes serious vibration loads on a satellite launch vehicle, the pressure fluctuations on a hammerhead launch vehicle at transonic speeds are predicted by coupling CFD analysis and semi-empirical methods. From the RANS simulation, shock oscillation region, separation region, and separation reattachment region are identified, and the boundary layer thickness, the displacement thickness, and flow properties at boundary layer edge are calculated. The pressure fluctuations and power spectra on the hammerhead fairing are predicted by coupling RANS results and semi-empirical methods considering spatial distribution, and compared with the experimental data.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.152-160
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• 2008

In the present paper, a transonic mixed-flow compressor that has relatively lower frontal area than that of centrifugal compressors is discussed, and aerodynamic design as well as performance prediction are performed. Main design constraints are compressor exit Mach number of 0.3 and flow angle of 30degrees at the design point, and maximum overall compressor diameter of 177mm, that is 7.0inch. The mass flow rate of design point and pressure ratio are 1.05kg/s and 5.2:1, respectively. The aerodynamic design results show that the transonic compressor designed with forward-swept inducer and curved diffuser can have the target performance with efficiency of 75% within the given constraints. And the compressor exit flow characteristics are discussed here.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2005.04a
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• pp.295-300
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• 2005

The freeplay, one of the concentrated structural nonlinearities, is inevitable for control surfaces of a real air vehicle due to normal wear of components and manufacturing mismatches. Also aerodynamic nonlinearities caused by a shock wave occur in transonic region. In practice, these nonlinearities induce the limit cycle oscillation (LCO) and decrease the transonic flutter speed. In this study, the fictitious mass method is used to apply a modal approach to nonlinear structural models due to freeplay. The transonic small-disturbance (TSD) equation is used to calculate unsteady aerodynamic forces in transonic region. Nonlinear aeroelastic time responses are predicted by the coupled time integration method (CTIM). This method was also applied to a 3D all-movable control wing to investigate its nonlinear aeroelastic responses. The angle of attack effect on the LCO characteristics has been found to be closely related with the initial pitching moment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.64-71
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• 2011

In this study, steady and unsteady aerodynamic analyses of a huge rocket configuration have been conducted in a transonic flow region. The launch vehicle structural response are coupled with the transonic flow state transitions at the nose of the payload fairing. The developed fluid-structure coupled analysis system is applied for aeroelastic computations combining computational structural dynamics(CSD), finite element method(FEM) and computational fluid dynamics(CFD) in the time domain. It can give very accurate and useful engineering data on the structural dynamic design of advanced flight vehicles. For the nonlinear unsteady aerodynamics in high transonic flow region, Navier-Stokes equations using the structured grid system have been applied to the rocket configurations. Also, it is typically shown that the current computation approach can yield realistic and practical results for rocket design and test engineers.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.03a
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• pp.17-22
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• 2004

A space launch vehicle departs the ground in a low speed, soon reaches a transonic and a supersonic speed, and then flies in a hypersonic speed into the space. Therefore, the design of a launch vehicle should include the prediction of aerodynamic characteristics for all speed regimes, ranging from subsonic to hypersonic speed. Generally, Empirical and analytical methods and wind tunnel tests are used for the prediction of aerodynamic characteristics. This research presents considerable factors for aerodynamic analysis of a launch vehicle using CFD. This investigation was conducted to determine effects of wake over the base section on the aerodynamic characteristics of a launch vehicle and also performed to determine effects of the sting which exist to support wind tunnel test model.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Visualization
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.34-42
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• 2019

Aerodynamic characteristics for a launch vehicle are numerically analyzed with various conditions. The local drag coefficients are high at the nose of the launch vehicle in subsonic region and on the main body in supersonic region because of the induced drag and the wave drag, respectively. The drag coefficients show the similar trend with the angle of attack except zero degree. However, the more the angle of attack increases, the more dependent on the Mach number the lift coefficient is. The body rotation for the flight stability destroys the vortex pair formed above the body opposite to the flight direction, so the flow fields are more or less complicated. The drag coefficient of the launch vehicle at sea level is about three times larger than that at altitude 7.2 km. And the thrust jet at the nozzle causes to reduce the drag coefficient compared with the jetless transonic flight.