Aeroelastic dynamic response of the inflatable space reentry aeroshell
ZHANG Zhang1, WU Jie2, ZHAO Miao1, WANG Qi1, LIU Yu1
1. Laboratory of Aerospace Entry, Descent and Landing Technology, Beijing Institute of Space Mechanics & Electricity, Beijing 100094, China; 2. School of Energy and Power Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing 100083, China
Abstract：[Objective] As an emerging space return technology, the inflatable reentry vehicle provides a new technical approach to deep space exploration, recovery of target spacecraft, and freight transport of space products. The inflatable reentry vehicle faces severe aerodynamic load impact, and many structural safety failures have been induced by the aeroelastic effect in actual test flights. However, the existing structural finite element models for inflatable reentry vehicles do not fully consider the inflation gas mechanism and material nonlinearity and cannot accurately describe the nonlinear structural dynamic characteristics of flexible inflatable structures. The defect of the low fluid-solid coupling degree also exists in the aeroelastic system, and how the inflation gas participates in the process of coupling is unclear. The limitations of existing methods impede reasonably revealing the aeroelastic characteristics under the influence of external high-speed flow and internal inflation gas during reentry.[Methods] Aimed at the aeroelastic dynamic response of the inflatable space reentry aeroshell in supersonic and transonic flows, a fluid-solid coupling model considering inflation gas is established in this paper, which also considers the influence of structural deformation on the flow field more than existing methods, and the LES can effectively describe the flow field with strong separation characteristics. Meanwhile, the six-DOF flight dynamics are used to modify the flight trajectory in the supersonic stage, and the two-way coupling between flight dynamics and aerodynamics is effectively realized. The proposed method can reveal the dynamic response characteristics under the action of large aerodynamic force and inflation gas, which is closer to the physical essence of aeroelasticity.[Results] The results indicate that the vehicle will vibrate violently in the transonic and supersonic flow fields, which is essentially the buffeting effect under the action of large-scale turbulent wake vortices. Under a Ma 0.8 flight condition with the most severe airflow pulsation, the axial and pitching vibration amplitudes of the vehicle reach 40 mm and 67 mm, respectively. The frequencies of airflow pulsation and structural vibration are relatively low, leading to a potential risk of inducing resonance with the natural frequency of the vehicle. Under transonic and supersonic conditions, the aerodynamic moment derivative of the vehicle is negative when the attack angle is less than 50°, and the structure can maintain static stability.[Conclusions] According to the calculation results of the aeroelastic dynamic response, the amplitude of the structure also converges after the release under an attack angle of 17°, which further confirms that the aerodynamic instability will not be severe. In the transonic and supersonic regions, with decreasing Mach number, the Reynolds number and inertia force increase continuously. Because of the increase in inertia force, the separation point at the shoulder moves forward, and the position of the shear layer moves outward, which increases the wake width and enhances the vibrational amplitude of the structure. When the attack angle exists, the increase in flow mixing due to asymmetric flow in the upper and lower half regions is the main reason for the increase in the unsteady degree of wake and the vibrational amplitude. This research provides a valuable reference for inflatable space reentry aeroshell structure safety design and evaluation under transonic and supersonic flows.
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2023, Vol. 63 
