Ballistic design of a launch vehicle with a reusable payload fairing

The paper focuses on the problem of the ballistic design of a two-stage launch vehicle for the case when the payload fairing is returned by using its flaps as the lifting surfaces of the first-stage reusable boosters. The fairing flaps must be opened after the velocity pressure reaches its maximum value. Therefore, the trajectory in the operation section of the first-stage boosters is assumed to be vertical. The flight along the curved part of the trajectory is carried out by the second-stage booster. In this study, we introduced an algorithm for selecting design parameters, developed an original program in the Wolfram Mathematica computer algebra system, and found the rational design parameters of the launch vehicle.

Flow Simulation over a Bulbous Heat Shield of a Typical Launch Vehicle

Numerical Simulation of flow field over a sharp and blunt nose cone bulbous heat shield are carried out. Software used for the simulation is ANSYS 19.2 student version. The Simulations are carried out in the Mach no. range 0.8 to 1.2 (transonic regime). Simulation results are analyzed in detail. Besides, Shock Strength on the heat shield for all the simulation results are obtained. Based on the studies, bulbous heat shield which gives least shock strength is recommended for the payload fairing configuration.