Understanding of flow features over a typical crew module at Mach 4

This paper presents the numerical simulations of flowfield over a typical Crew Module at Mach 4 for different angles-of-attack ranging from 0 to -25°. Detailed flow features such as contour of density gradient over the model, numerical oil flow and near wake vortex structures are captured very well in the present simulations. The location of the sonic line and its behaviour due to angles-of-attack is also captured in the simulations. The C_P distribution on the windward and leeward side shows excellent match with the experimental results. Also, the prediction of aerodynamic coefficients shows very good agreement with the experimental results. The numerical simulation predicts C_Mcg, C_N and C_A within 8%, 4% and 3.5% respectively with respect to experimental values.