Abstract
In this paper, the supersonic flows around space launch vehicles have been numerically simulated by using a 3-D RANS flow solver. The focus of the study was made for investigating plume-induced flow separation(PIFS). For this purpose, a vertex-centered finite-volume method was utilized in conjunction with 2nd-order Roe's FDS to discretize the inviscid fluxes. The viscous fluxes were computed based on central differencing. The Spalart-Allmaras model was employed for the closure of turbulence. The Gauss-Seidel iteration was used for time integration. To validate the flow solver, calculation was made for the 0.04 scale model of the Saturn-5 launch vehicle at the supersonic flow condition without exhaust plume, and the predicted results were compared with the experimental data. Good agreements were obtained between the present results and the experiment for the surface pressure coefficient and the Mach number distribution inside the boundary layer. Additional calculations were made for the real scale of the Saturn-5 configuration with exhaust plume. The flow characteristics were analyzed, and the PIFS distances were validated by comparing with the flight data. The KSLV-1 is also simulated at the several altitude conditions. In case of the KSLV-1, PIFS was not observed at all conditions, and it is expected that PIFS is affected by the nozzle position.
