Project Name – Computation of Drag Reduction Techniques For Hypersonic Vehicles

Supervisor – Prof. Hrishikesh Gadgil

Abstract –

“Hypersonic drag generated on the vehicles is the primary drawback while moving with hypersonic speeds. This study focuses on studying the mechanism of different drag reduction techniques, primarily aerospike, aeordisc, and energy deposition methods. Significant drag reduction is achieved by using the aerodisc method, which is up to 45%. Still, the major drawback of this method is that it generates a high coefficient of momentum as the angle of attack increases; this will lead to structural failures. However, using an energy deposition method, significant drag reduction is achieved without affecting the structure of the vehicle. This drag reduction method is then carried out for the re-entry for Earth’s atmosphere and re-entry for the Martian atmosphere taking the actual atmospheric conditions at various altitudes.

    The solver comprises reacting air chemistry with five major species viz., N2, O2, N, O, and NO, incorporating 11 elementary reactions models. The AUSM flux discretization schemes have been integrated into the code to get better flow features near the shock and on the wall in front of the vehicle. An unstructured, inviscid, and non-equilibrium reacting air flow solver is used for the study. For the Martian atmospheric conditions (CO2 chemistry model) along with three new extra species, namely, CO2, CO, and C and ten distinct reactions are used in the existing solver and modified both Earth and Martian code to induce acting on the body energy deposition in the flow field and also to calculate Drag and Coefficient of Drag acting on the body.“

Work – 

  • Reducing drag on hypersonic vehicles using energy deposition, counterflow jet, and aerospike methods. 
  • Employing the methods mentioned above result in significant drag reduction.
  • Developed model in Gambit 2.4.6 and used the AUSM scheme written in C++ to run CFD simulations. 
  • Modified the AUSM scheme. It is done by adding equations for chemical reactions and drag equations in hypersonic flows. 
  • Analyzed the shock waves, flow patterns and aerodynamic properties in the field using tech plot 360