Plume induced flow separation occurred on launch vehicles other than the Saturn V

NUMERICAL INVESTIGATION OF PLUME-INDUCED FLOW SEPARATION FOR A SPACE LAUNCH VEHICLE. 2013. https://doi.org/10.6112/kscfe.2013.18.2.066

In this paper, the supersonic flows around space launch vehicles have been numerically simulated by using a 3-D RANS flow solver. The focus of the study was made for investigating plume-induced flow separation(PIFS). For this purpose, a vertex-centered finite-volume method was utilized in conjunction with 2nd-order Roe`s FDS to discretize the inviscid fluxes. The viscous fluxes were computed based on central differencing. The Spalart-Allmaras model was employed for the closure of turbulence. The Gauss-Seidel iteration was used for time integration. To validate the flow solver, calculation was made for the 0.04 scale model of the Saturn-5 launch vehicle at the supersonic flow condition without exhaust plume, and the predicted results were compared with the experimental data. Good agreements were obtained between the present results and the experiment for the surface pressure coefficient and the Mach number distribution inside the boundary layer. Additional calculations were made for the real scale of the Saturn-5 configuration with exhaust plume. The flow characteristics were analyzed, and the PIFS distances were validated by comparing with the flight data. The KSLV-1 is also simulated at the several altitude conditions. In case of the KSLV-1, PIFS was not observed at all conditions, and it is expected that PIFS is affected by the nozzle position.

USM3D Simulations of Saturn V Plume-Induced Flow Separation. 2011. https://doi.org/10.2514/1.a32122

*† ‡ The NASA Constellation Program included the Ares V heavy lift cargo vehicle. During the design stage, engineers questioned if the Plume Induced Flow Separation (PIFS) that occurred along Saturn V rocket during moon missions at some flight conditions, would also plague the newly proposed rocket. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was offered as a tool for initiating the investigation of PIFS along the Ares V rocket. However, CFD best practice guidelines were not available for such an investigation. In an effort to establish a CFD process and define guidelines for Ares V powered simulations, the Saturn V vehicle was used because PIFS flight data existed. The ideal gas, computational flow solver USM3D was evaluated for its viability in computing PIFS along the Saturn V vehicle with F-1 engines firing. Solutions were computed at supersonic freestream conditions, zero degree angle of attack, zero degree sideslip, and at flight Reynolds numbers. The effects of solution sensitivity to grid refinement, turbulence models, and the engine boundary conditions on the predicted PIFS distance along the Saturn V were discussed and compared to flight data from the Apollo 11 mission AS-506.