Numerical Analysis of Flow Fields and Temperature Distribution of Supersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerators

A computational study performed for a tension cone inflatable aerodynamic decelerator (TC-IAD) with different long bases was described in this paper. Flow field and temperature distribution were investigated. The calculated axial force coefficients were validated against the wind tunnel experimental results at Mach number from 1.65 to 4.50, and were found to be in excellent agreement. The simulation results also show that the length of base has some influence on shock structure and temperature distribution. At the angle of attack (α) from 0° to 15°, the TC-IAD protects the short base from severe aero-heating.