Penetration mode effect on thermal protection system by opposing jet

• Published in: Acta astronautica Vol. 160; pp. 206 - 215
• Main Authors: Huang, Jie, Yao, Wei-Xing, Jiang, Zhi-Ping
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elmsford Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2019; Elsevier BV
• Subjects: Aerodynamic heating; Drag; Drag coefficients; Drag reduction; Low temperature; Opposing jet; Penetration; Penetration mode; Pressure ratio; Product design; Thermal protection; Thermal protection system; Total pressure ratio; Total pressure ratio; Penetration mode; Opposing jet; Thermal protection system
• ISSN: 0094-5765; 1879-2030
• DOI: 10.1016/j.actaastro.2019.03.023

The effect of the penetration mode on the thermal protection system by opposing jet is studied in this paper. The results show that the opposing jet not only pushes the bow shock away from the blunt body and reduces the shock intensity, but also directly cools the blunt body by the low-temperature jet gas. Therefore, the opposing jet can significantly reduce the aerodynamic heating of the blunt body. When the total pressure ratio of the opposing jet is less than critical value, the opposing jet presents the long penetration mode. When the total pressure ratio is greater than critical value, the opposing jet presents the short penetration mode. The critical total pressure ratio gradually decreases with the increase of diameter of the opposing jet. Increasing the total pressure ratio and diameter of the opposing jet can improve the thermal control efficiency of the opposing jet, and increasing diameter of the opposing jet can also reduce the drag coefficient. However, the drag coefficient increases abruptly when the penetration mode changes. •CFD numerical model of opposing jet is established.•Drag and heat reduction of opposing jet is validated.•Effect of penetration mode on heat reduction is studied.•Effect of total pressure ratio on penetration mode is studied.•Temperature of blunt body is compared.