X-33 computational aeroheating predictions and comparisons with experimental data

摘要

A computational hypersonic aeroheating study conducted at the NASA Langley Research Center to support development of the X-33 thermal protection system is detailed. In this research, laminar and turbulent aeroheating predictions were generated at wind-tunnel test conditions using two finite volume, Navier-Stokes solvers and a coupled inviscid-solver/boundary-layer-code engineering method. The wind-tunnel computations were performed at Mach 6 for angles of attack of 20-40 deg. Laminar beating distribution comparisons between the predictions and wind-tunnel data were generally within +/- 10 for the Navier-Stokes method and +/- 25 for the engineering code method, whereas turbulent computations were within +/- 20 of the data. Laminar aeroheating computations were also performed at flight conditions using the two Navier-Stokes solvers. Flight-case results from tile two Navier-Stokes codes were found to agree to within less than +/- 10. References: 35