Modelling the Stability of Different Re-entry Capsule Shapes

The design of a re-entry vehicle and the analysis of its performance are extremely challenging tasks. The difficulties increase when the understanding of its transient behaviour is sought and grow even further if this transient is affected by uncontrolled phenomena such as the shape change caused by the ablation of the thermal protection material used as heat shield. 

An activity with TDE and the Von Karman Institute, Belgium, aimed to join numerical, experimental and modelling expertise to shed light on the possible impact of the ablation-driven shape change of the heat shield on the capsule aerodynamic behaviour. The obtained results suggest that the developed techniques and the acquired knowledge may be used in the future to support more standard design approaches for re-entry missions. 

In addition, it is believed that the synergistic use of experimental, theoretical and numerical techniques used by the team represents a valuable example of how to properly tackle a complex multi-physical problem as the atmospheric entry. More about this activity is available in the TDE Highlights brochure 2022.