Numerical simulations of plasma flows and electromagnetic waves around a reentry vehicle were performed to estimate the radio-frequency blackout. The plasma flows in the shock layer and wake region were calculated using computational fluid dynamics technique. The simulation of electromagnetic waves around a reentry vehicle was conducted using a frequency-dependent finite-difference time-domain method with the plasma properties obtained by computational fluid dynamics. The numerical simulations were performed for the atmospheric reentry demonstrator at various altitudes based on the reentry orbit data. Three cases of the numerical simulations, i.e., an axisymmetric model, a three-dimensional model with non-catalytic wall and finite-catalytic wall, were performed for evaluating the effects of angle of attack and catalytic wall on the radio-frequency blackout The formations for the number density of electrons that is an important parameter in evaluating the radio-frequency blackout were greatly changed by these three cases. The simulation model was validated based on the signal loss history of the experimental flight data. The simulation results using a three-dimensional model with finite-catalytic wall showed better agreement with the measured results compared to other two cases.
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