• International Journal of Aeronautical and Space Sciences
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.1-18
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• 2001

A numerical technique for simulating the separation dynamics of strap-on boosters jettisoned in the dense atmosphere is presented. Six degree of freedom rigid body equations of motion are integrated into the three-dimensional unsteady Navier-Stokes solution procedure to determine the dynamic motions of strap-ons. An automated Chimera overlaid grid technique is introduced to achieve maximum efficiency for multi-body dynamic motion and a domain division technique is implemented in order to reduce the computational cost required to find interpolation points in the Chimera grids. The flow solver is validated by comparing the computed results around the Titan IV launch vehicle with experimental data. The complete analysis process is then applied to the. H-II launch vehicle, the central rocket in japans space program, the CZ-3C launch vehicle developed in China and the KSR-III, a three-stage sounding rocket being developed in Korea. From the analyses, separation trajectories of strap-on boosters are predicted and aerodynamic characteristics around the vehicles at every time interval are examined. In addition, separation-impulse devices generally introduced for safe separation of strap-ons are properly modeled in the present paper and the jettisoning force requirements are examined quantitatively.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.83-86
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• 2007

Turbulent flow analysis is conducted around the multi-stage launch vehicle including base region and detachment motion of strap-on boosters due to resultant aerodynamic forces and gravity is simulated. Aerodynamic solution procedure is coupled with rigid body dynamics for the prediction of separation behavior. An overset mesh technique is adopted to achieve maximum efficiency in simulating relative motion of bodies and various turbulence models are implemented on the flow solver to predict the aerodynamic forces accurately. At first, some preliminary studies are conducted to show the importance of base flow for the exact prediction of detachment motion and to find the most suitable turbulence model for the simulation of launch vehicle configurations. And then, developed solver is applied to the simulation of KSR-III, a three-stage sounding rocket researched in Korea. From the analyses, after-body flow field strongly affects the separation motions of strap-on boosters. Negative pitching moment at initial stage is gradually recovered and a strap-on finally results in a safe separation, while fore-body analysis shows collision phenomena between core rocket and booster. And a slight variation of motion is observed from the comparison between inviscid and turbulent analyses. Change of separation trajectory based on viscous effects is just a few percent and therefore, inviscid analysis is sufficient for the simulation of separation motion if the study is focused only on the movement of strap-ons.