• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 2015

The attitude aerodynamic control is an important subject in the design of an aerospace plane. Usually, at high altitudes, this control is fulfilled by thrusters so that the implementation of an aerodynamic control of the vehicle has the advantage of reducing the amount of thrusters fuel to be loaded on board. In the present paper, the efficiency of a wing-flap has been evaluated considering a NACA 0010 airfoil with a trailing edge flap of length equal to 35% of the chord. Computational tests have been carried out in hypersonic, rarefied flow by a direct simulation Monte Carlo code at the altitudes of 65 and 85 km, in the range of angle of attack 0-40 deg. and with flap deflection equal to 0, 15 and 30 deg.. Effects of the flap deflection have been quantified by the variations of the aerodynamic force and of the longitudinal moment. The shock wave-boundary layer interaction and the shock wave-shock wave interaction have been also considered. A possible interaction of the leading edge shock wave and of the shock wave arising from the vertex of the convex corner, produced on the lower surface of the airfoil when the flap is deflected, generates a shock wave whose intensity is stronger than those of the two interacting shock waves. This produces a consistent increment of pressure and heat flux on the lower surface of the flap, where a thermal protection system is required.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.503-514
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• 2017

The attitude control of an aircraft is usually fulfilled by means of thrusters at high altitudes. Therefore, the possibility of using also aerodynamic surfaces would produce the advantage of reducing the amount of fuel for the thrusters to be loaded on board. For this purpose, Zuppardi already considered some aerodynamic problems linked to the use of a wing flap in a previous paper. A NACA 0010 airfoil with a trailing edge flap of 35% of the chord, in the range of angle of attack 0-40 deg and flap deflections up to 30 deg was investigated. Computer tests were carried out in hypersonic, rarefied flow by a direct simulation Monte Carlo code at the altitudes of 65 and 85 km of Earth Atmosphere. The present work continues this subject, considering the same airfoil and free stream conditions but two flap extensions of 45% and 25% of the chord and two flap deflections of 15 and 30 deg. The main purpose is to compare the influence of the flap dimension with that of the flap deflection. The present analysis is carried out in terms of: 1) percentage variation of the global aerodynamic coefficients with respect to the no-flap configuration, 2) increment of pressure and heat flux on the airfoil lower surface due to the Shock Wave-Shock Wave Interaction (SWSWI) with respect to the same quantities with no SWSWI or in no-flap configuration, 3) flap hinge moment. Issues 2) and 3) are important for the design of the mechanical and thermal protection system and of the flap actuator, respectively. Under the above mentioned test and geometrical conditions, the flap deflection is aerodynamically more effective than the flap extension, because it involves higher variation of the aerodynamic coefficients. However, tests verify that a smaller deflection angle involves the advantage of a smaller increment of pressure and heat flux on the airfoil lower surface, due to SWSWI, as well as a smaller hinge moment.

• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.215-221
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• 2013

The basic quantitative tool for the study of hypersonic rarefied flows is the direct simulation Monte Carlo method (DSMC). The DSMC method requires a large amount of computer memory and performance and is unreasonably expensive at the first stage of spacecraft design and trajectory analysis. A possible solution to this problem is approximate engineering methods. However, the Monte Carlo method remains the most reliable approach to compare to the engineering methods that provide good results for the global aerodynamic coefficients of various geometry designs. This paper presents the calculation results of aerodynamic characteristics for spacecraft vehicles in the free molecular, the transitional and the continuum regimes using the local engineering method. Results and methods would be useful to calculate aerodynamics for new-generation hypersonic vehicle designs.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.581-594
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• 2018

This paper is the follow-on of a previous paper by the author where it was pointed out that the forthcoming, manned exploration missions to Mars, by means of complex geometry spacecraft, involve the study of phenomena like shock wave-boundary layer interaction and shock wave-shock wave interaction also along the entry path in Mars atmosphere. The present paper focuses the chemical effects both in the shock layer and on the surface of a test body along the Mars orbital entry and compares these effects with those along the Earth orbital re-entry. As well known, the Mars atmosphere is almost made up of Carbon dioxide whose dissociation energy is even lower than that of Oxygen. Therefore, although the Mars entry is less energized than the Earth re-entry, one can expect that the effects of chemistry on aerodynamic quantities, both in the shock layer and on a test body surface, are different from those along the Earth re-entry. The study has been carried out computationally by means of a direct simulation Monte Carlo code, simulating the nose of an aero-space-plane and using, as free stream parameters, those along the Mars entry and Earth re-entry trajectories in the altitude interval 60-90 km. At each altitude, three chemical conditions have been considered: 1) gas non reactive and non-catalytic surface, 2) gas reactive and non-catalytic surface, 3) gas reactive and fully-catalytic surface. The results showed that the number of reactions, both in the flow and on the nose surface, is higher for Earth and, correspondingly, also the effects on the aerodynamic quantities.