Boundary Layer Transition (BOLT) - Experiments and Simulations (Low Concave Curvature and Leading-Edge Sweep Effects)
Abstract
The TEES/CUBRC team actively engaged in the BOLT flight test program. The Team participated in BOLT reviews and weekly telecoms conducted by Dr. Brad Wheaton (Lead; Applied Physics Lab) and AFRL/AFOSR. 1) The computational TEES team led by Dr. Reed provided numerical stability simulations to help identify instability mechanisms and advise on sensor placement both in the ground tests and on ascent and descent in flight. Using our in-house nonlinear parabolized stability code EPIC, Alexander Moyes (graduated Ph.D. student) characterized the region away from the centerline and swept leading edge in flight and suggested the heatstreaks observed behave like stationary crossflow instability. Daniel Mullen (graduated Ph.D. student) conducted further basic-state studies with a focus on verification (including successful comparisons with other codes) and investigated the instabilities on the flight configuration and the wind-tunnel subscale model. Flight off-design conditions of pitch and yaw were also modeled. Mr. Mullen submitted his predictions to the Transition Prediction Challenge.He was a Summer 2019 AFOSR Intern to SpaceX. Andrew Riha (Ph.D. student) also worked with Mr. Scott Berry (NASA Langley Research Center) on the roughness experiments planned for the opposite side on the BOLT II (companion project, FA9550-19-1-0154) flight model. 2) The approach taken by the TEES/CUBRC team led by Dr. Bowersox has been to identify transition instabilities and mechanisms both on and off the surface of the BOLT geometry at hypersonic speeds through ground test and simulation
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 15, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1231095
Entities
People
- Helen L. Reed
- Rodney Dw Bowersox
Organizations
- Texas Engineering Experiment Station