Investigation of the turbulent wake flow of generic launcher configurations via a zonal RANS/LES method

A numerical analysis of the turbulent wake flow of a generic space launcher at supersonic freestream conditions (Ma∞ = 6.0 and Re D = 1.7 × 106) is performed using a zonal RANS/LES method. To investigate the influence of various components of a rocket model on the base flow, three supported wind tunnel configurations with the same main body geometry and different aft-body extensions consisting of a blunt base, a nozzle dummy, and a full flowing underexpanded TIC nozzle (Mae = 2.52, p e/p ∞ = 100) are considered. Flow topologies for three cases are described in detail including an estimate of the impact of the wind tunnel model support on the flow field. To validate the applied numerical method, the computed flow fields are compared to experimental data from high-speed schlieren measurements provided by DLR Cologne. The influence of the used aft-body extensions on the steady-state and dynamic base flow characteristics is evaluated by a detailed analysis and comparison of the pressure distribution and its spectra along the base and nozzle walls for three investigated configurations. The numerical findings are compared to experimental wall pressure oscillation measurements provided by DLR Cologne. The major results are the non-negligible influence of the model support on the wake even on the strut averted side, the base drag reduction effect of the aft-expanding jet plume consisting of an increase of the base pressure level from p/p∞ ≈ 0.2-0.25 (blunt base and nozzle dummy configurations) up to p/p∞ ≈ 0.7 leading to a decrease of the base pressure drag coefficient from C Dp base = 0.032 to 0.012 correspondingly, and the identified dominant low-frequency modes of the base pressure oscillations at Sr D ≈ 0.05, Sr D ≈ 0.1, and Sr D ≈ 0.2 also detected in the experiments. © 2013 CEAS.