Date of Award
5-2006
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Departmental Honors
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Abstract
Using computational fluid dynamics, steady state simulations of a capsule like Mars entry vehicle at certain trajectory points was performed. Trajectory points were chosen incrementally from 90 to 11.5 kilometers altitude. The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method and the Overflow 2 Navier-Stokes solver were used depending on Knudsen number values greater than or less than 0.1, respectively. To compare flow effects of the maximum angle of attack error margin of three degrees, axially symmetric cases were computed and compared to three dimensional cases demonstrating an attack angle (α) of three degrees. Lift and drag coefficients are reported and compared. The greatest lift and drag coefficients were recorded with the 11.5 kilometer altitude case: 0.0 and 0.635 for α = 0° , and 0.029 and 0.566 for α = 3°, which introduces a lifting force and demonstrates a 12.3% change in drag.
Recommended Citation
Schauerhamer, Daniel Guy, "Steady State Simulations of a Mars Entry Vehicle" (2006). Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects. 728.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/honors/728
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Faculty Mentor
Thomas Hauser
Departmental Honors Advisor
Wynn Walker