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