GENERIC MISSILE AEROTHERMAL PROJECT
A semi-coupled aerothermal analysis of a generic missile geometry was performed with RavenCFD and Velodyne:Heat Transfer Solver.
A contour of Mach number (colorful, lower color bar) captured early in the trajectory, with a Velodyne: Heat Transfer Model solution from late in the trajectory clipped to show internal temperatures (black and white, upper color bar). The effects of high convective heating are apparent in the radome and fin temperatures, with internal components showing the effects of conduction and radiation.
This project features the resolution of aerothermal heating throughout a trajectory, which is applied to a missile geometry with complex internals. The result is a complete thermal picture of the missile, including effects of aerothermal and internal cavity convection, internal and external radiation, and conduction through the detailed geometry.
The missile was 'flown' through a supersonic trajectory (calculated by TAOS) by running RavenCFD periodically throughout the trajectory.
The CFD run times were chosen to accurately capture the variation in total temperature and predicted heat transfer coefficient with linear interpolation between times. At each time, heat transfer along the missile was determined by running both an adiabatic case and a radiative equilibrium case. The CFD cases were fully turbulent (SST) and modeled the flow chemistry as thermally perfect to capture high Mach number effects. Upon completion, the CFD runs provided a spatially varying map of heat transfer coefficient and recovery temperature throughout the trajectory.
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A thermal model of the missile aeroshell and internal (seeker, payload, etc.) was created, for use in Velodyne:Heat Transfer Solver. The data calculated by RavenCFD were applied to the missile to specify a temporally and spatially varying convection boundary condition. Radiation, internal convection, and conduction were calculated inside the missile, along with time- and temperature-dependent heat generation by electrical components. Temperatures of critical components can be tracked and compared to material limits to determine design survivability.
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