Computation of aerodynamic coefficients of a re-entry vehicle at Mach 6

The paper evaluates the aerodynamic coefficients on a blunt-nose re-entry capsule with a conical crosssection followed by a cone-flare body. A computer code is developed to solve three-dimensional compressible inviscid equations for flow over a Space Recovery Experiment (SRE) configuration at different flare-cone half-angle at Mach 6 and angle of attack up to 5 degrees, at 1 degrees interval. The surface pressure variation is numerically integrated to obtain the aerodynamic forces and pitching moment. The numerical analysis reveals the influence of flare-cone geometry on the flow characteristics and aerodynamic coefficients. The numerical results agree with wind tunnel results. Increase of cone-flare angle from 25 degrees to 35 degrees results in increase of normal force slope, axial forebody drag, base drag and location of centre of pressure by 62.5%, 56.2% and 33.13%, respectively, from the basic configuration of the SRE of 25 degrees.