Aerothermodynamic investigation of the Pre-X configuration in HEG

Abstract

During the past years, the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) has initiated several studies concerning the first generation experimental vehicle Pre-X, which is dedicated to mastering glided atmospheric re-entry. CNES has committed at the beginning of 2005 to an important phase with the objective of reaching a preliminary design review by mid 2006. In the framework of phases A2 and B of the Pre-X program the German Aerospace Center (DLR) carried out wind tunnel experiments on a scaled Pre-X vehicle in the High Enthalpy Shock Tunnel Gottingen (HEG) as well as numerical investigations using the DLR TAU code. For a 20° body flap deflection, transitional reattachment was experimentally observed. Additionally, the experiments and the CFD indicated a heating region at the end of the flaps that originated from the impingement of the interference between the bow shock and the shock created by the re-attachment. © 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.