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Transient aero-thermal analysis of high speed vehicles using CFD

Conference Paper · January 2012

DOI: 10.1109/IBCAST.2012.6177549

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 Transient Aero-thermal Analysis of High Speed Vehicles using CFD
Dr. Mukkarum Husain, Mr. Shamoon Jamshed, Dr. Nauman Qureshi
mrmukkarum@yahoo.com
IST, Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract— The viscous dissipation within boundary
layers of high speed vehicle creates high skin
temperatures. Designing of an appropriate thermal
protection system requires computation of thermal loads
which would be experienced by vehicle during its flight
trajectory. The objective of the present work is to develop
a methodology for transient aero-thermal analysis of high
speed vehicle. The most appropriate method for
predicting aerodynamic heating is computational fluid
dynamics solution (CFD). Solid-Fluid coupling and
transient boundary condition capabilities of CFD software
FLUENT are used to develop required methodology. The
available X-15 flight data is used for its validation.
Temperature transients are calculated for complete flight
trajectory of X-15 at wing mid-span chord location and
compared with available flight data at stagnation, 4%,
20%, and 46% chord locations. The results obtained for
skin temperatures at different locations are found both
qualitatively and quantitatively in good agreement with in-
flight data. This validates the methodology utilized in
modeling the transient aero-thermal analysis of high speed
vehicles. This method could be very useful in predicting
the aerodynamic heating loads of high speed vehicles.
data for Mach numbers ranging from 0.8 to 6; altitudes
around 65 Km and angle of attack varying upto 20o. The
temperature data of three flights is acquired through 290
thermocouples mounted at inner surface of skin and 190
thermocouples placed on the internal structure. The
location of several thermocouples placed near leading
edge is shown in figure 1. Numerous additional
thermocouples are used to measure temperatures in the
various systems in the airplane. The overall efficiency of
the system for the conditions existing during the three
flights covered was claimed to be 12K (±200 F).
In present study, transient skin temperatures at
stagnation, 4%, 20%, and 46% (Figure 2) wing mid-span
chord locations are computed and compared with flight
data. Thermocouples used for validation purpose are
summarized in table I. The wing of the X-15 airplane is a
multi-spar structure with a modified NACA 66005 airfoil
as its basic section, more detail about wing geometry can
be found from Ref. 1. The wing skin is made of solid
Inconel-X. Material properties of Inconel-X are given in
table II.

Keywords: Transient Aero-thermal Analysis; Solid-Fluid

Interaction; Skin Temperature; Heat Flux; CFD; X-15.

I. INTRODUCTION
As Mach number increases, large flow gradients are
induced near the surface of blunt bodies by the detached
shock wave. This affects the characteristics of the
boundary layer, particularly the heat transfer. The viscous
Fig. 1: Different Thermocouple Location near Leading
dissipation within boundary layers creates high
Edge (dimensions in inches)
temperatures at near wall regions; kinetic energy of fluid
is converted into the thermal energy and increases the wall
temperature. In high speed flows this mechanism
strengthens and notable difference between free stream
temperature and wall temperature can be observed. The
severity of aerodynamic heating depends on the flight
trajectory (velocity, altitude and angle of attack histories)
and vehicle geometry. Detailed aero-thermal analysis is
necessary for high speed vehicles to predict structural and
heat loads. Heat load plays an important role to decide the
specification and thickness of the Thermal Protection Fig. 2: Wing Mid-Span Chord Locations
System (TPS) material.
The basic purpose of the X-15 research work was to The objective of the present work is to develop a
develop methodologies for transient aero-thermal methodology based on CFD [6-11] for predicting transient
analyses[1-5]. The in-flight data was used to serve as a skin temperatures and heat flux. CFD is a technique that
baseline for the benchmarking of the developed methods. enables to study the dynamics of things that flow. CFD as
The three flights experimented provided the temperature a computational technology is appropriate to develop the
concept of numerical test rig (Numerical Wind Tunnel).

Proceedings of International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences & Technology

Islamabad, Pakistan, January 09 – 12, 2012
This method provides a direct means of computing heat
fluxes and temperatures by solving complete set of flow
and energy equations. However, large computer run time
and storage especially for 3D transient problems is
required.

Table I: Thermocouple Location Detail

Location Thermocouple Number

Leading Edge, External/Internal 81/82

4% Chord, upper/lower 32/38
20% Chord, upper/lower 33/39
46% Chord, upper/lower 35/41

Table II: Material Properties (Inconel-X) Fig. 4: Mesh near Leading Edge of Wing Mid-Span Chord

Density 8.28 g/cc

Specific Heat 0.431 J/g-oC
Thermal Conductivity 12 W/m-k
Emissivity 0.76

In present study simplified 2D model is solved

by using FLUENT software to compute temperature
transients at skin. Mesh used in present study is shown in
figure 3&4 while boundary conditions are described in
figure 5. Complete time histories of transient temperatures
are calculated for flight trajectory. Fluid and solid regions
are simultaneously solved by using Solid-Fluid interfacing
capabilities of FLUENT to capture real physics, as shown
in Chart 1. User Define Function (UDF) and profile Fig. 5: Boundary Condition used in Transient Aero-
features of FLUENT are used to define transient boundary thermal Analysis
conditions. SIMPLE scheme is used with Spalart-
Allmaras turbulence model. Numerical computations are
also performed by using PISO and Roe-FDS scheme.
Results from all three schemes are found to be similar. No
study with different turbulence model has been carried
out. Time step size was taken 0.01sec and 300 iterations
were carried out at each time step. Simulation time for
complete trajectory is approximately 100 hours (Four
days) on workstation of 2 x quad core 2.4 GHz processors
and 16 GB RAM.

Chart 1: Flow Chart for Transient Aero-thermal Analysis

Fig. 3: Mesh around Wing Mid-Span Chord

Proceedings of International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences & Technology

Islamabad, Pakistan, January 09 – 12, 2012
 II. FLIGHT CONDITION In all cases computed temperature profiles follow
the flight data behavior. Results at downstream location
Flight data of three different trajectories of X-15 are
are not only qualitatively but also quantitatively in good
available [1]. Presently only flight A trajectory of X-15 is
agreement with flight data. These results depict that flow
used for the validation of transient aero-thermal analysis
is initially laminar and from 4% to 20% chord location
methodology. Altitude, Mach and angle of attack profiles
transition from laminar to turbulent has happened.
are shown in figure 6-8. Free-stream conditions are such
that perfect gas and no slip boundary condition
assumptions are valid.

Fig 9: Temperature Profile at External Leading Edge

Fig. 6: Free-Stream Condition, Altitude vs. Time

Fig 10: Temperature Profile at Internal Leading Edge

Fig. 7: Free-Stream Condition, Mach vs. Time

Fig 11: Temperature Profile at 4% Chord, Upper

Fig 8: Free-Stream Condition, Angle of Attack vs. Time

III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Figures 9-12 show results at stagnation point and at
4% chord location. Present results qualitatively follow the
flight data behavior but are quantitatively around 80oK
over predicted. Figure 13-14 show results at 20% chord
location. Computed results are not only following the
behavior but also quantitatively very close to flight data.
Results for 46% chord location are also very close to flight
data as shown in figure 15-16.
Fig 12: Temperature Profile at 4% Chord, Lower

Proceedings of International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences & Technology

Islamabad, Pakistan, January 09 – 12, 2012
 flight data at stagnation, 4%, 20%, and 46% chord
location. The results obtained for skin temperatures are
qualitatively and quantitatively in good agreement with in-
flight data. This validates the methodology utilized in
modeling the transient aero-thermal analysis of high speed
vehicles. This methodology could be very useful in
predicting the aerodynamic heating loads of high speed
vehicles.

V. FUTURE WORK
Fig 13: Temperature Profile at 20% Chord, Upper
An intense study on the transient aero-thermal
analysis of all three flight conditions of X-15 and other
available flight data with laminar and different turbulent
models is in process.

REFERENCES
[1] Joe D. Watts, Ronald P. Banas, “X-15 Structural Temperature
Measurments and Calculations for Flights to Maximum Mach
Numbers of Approximately 4, 5, 6”, NASA Technical
Memorandum X-883.
[2] Murray Palitz, “Measured and Calculated Flow Conditions on the
Fig 14: Temperature Profile at 20% Chord, Lower Forward Fuselage of the X-15 Airplane and Model at Mach
Numbers from 3.0 to 8.0”, NASA Technical Notes, NASA NT D-
3447.
[3] Richard D. Banner, Albert E. Kuhl, Robert D. Quinn, “Preliminary
Results ofAerodynamic Heating Studies on the X-15 Airplane”,
NASA Technical Memorandum X-638.
[4] Robert D. Quinn, Leslie Gong, “A method for calculating transient
surface temperatures and surface heating rates for high speed
aircraft”, NASA/TP-2000-209034, 2000.
[5] Michael R. Tauber, “A Review of High Speed Convective, Heat
Transfer Computation Methods”, NASA Technical Paper 2914,
1989.
[6] J. C. Tannehill, D. A. Anderson, R. H. Pletcher, “Computational
Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer”, Second Edition, January
1997.
[7] John D. Anderson, Jr., “Computational Fluid Dynamics, the
Fig 15: Temperature Profile at 46% Chord, Upper Basics with Application”, McGraw-Hill Series in Mechanical
Engineering, 1995.
[8] Toro EF., “Riemann Solvers and Numerical Methods for Fluid
Dynamics: A Practical Introduction”, Springer, 1997.
[9] Klauss A. Hoffmann, Steve T. Chiang, “Computational Fluid
Dynamics. Vol. I”, Fourth Edition, Engineering Education
System, Wichita, Kansas, 2001.
[10] Klauss A. Hoffmann, Steve T. Chiang, “Computational Fluid
Dynamics. Vol. II”, Fourth Edition, Engineering Education
System, Wichita, Kansas, 2001.
[11] Klauss A. Hoffmann, Steve T. Chiang, “Computational Fluid
Dynamics. Vol. III”, Fourth Edition, Engineering Education
System, Wichita, Kansas, 2001.

Fig 16: Temperature Profile at 46% Chord, Lower

IV. CONCLUSION
A methodology for predicting transient skin
temperatures and heat flux by using CFD software
FLUENT is developed. X-15 flight data is used for the
validation of the methodology. Temperature transients are
calculated for complete flight trajectory of X-15 at wing
mid-span chord location and compared with available

Proceedings of International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences & Technology

Islamabad, Pakistan, January 09 – 12, 2012

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