Wind tunnel measurements of the surface pressure fluctuations on the new VEGA-C space launcher

Camussi, Roberto; Marco, Alessandro Di; Stoica, C. I.; Bernardini, Matteo; Stella, F.; Gregorio, F. De; Paglia, Fabio; Romano, Luca; Barbagallo, D.

doi:10.1016/j.ast.2020.105772

Cited by 23 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Shock waves in gases are an exceptionally thin boundary that propagates at supersonic speeds, resulting in an increase in pressure, density, temperature and flow velocity [1]. For these reasons, shock waves have always been considered a fascinating natural phenomenon that has motivated numerous research efforts over the years, providing a lot of scientific knowledge in various fields, such as aerospace [2], [3], [4], automotive [5], geophysics [6] and medicine [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the Opening Speed of the Valve in a Diaphragmless Shock Tube for Metrological Purposes

Castro,

Kutin,

Svete

2024

IEEE Sensors J.

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To develop a measurement system for calibrating high-frequency dynamic pressure that is capable of acting as a primary dynamic pressure calibration standard, a new concept of the shock tube, called the diaphragmless shock tube, has recently been developed. In most such shock tubes the diaphragm is replaced with a commercially available, ISTA KB fast-opening valve. In this article a numerical model was built in OpenFOAM to investigate the effects of the opening mechanism of ISTA KB-40-100 fast-opening valve on the formation of the shock wave in a shock tube with an internal radius of 20 mm. Numerical simulations were performed for the driver-driven pressure ratio of 40 and the valve-opening speeds of 5 m/s, 10 m/s and 20 m/s, which were compared with the case of instantaneous valve opening, and the results predicted by the ideal shock tube theory. The observed variables were the mass flow through the valve, as well as the pressure, the temperature and the shock wave velocity in the formation region behind the valve. The results show that when the shock wave undergoes an initial acceleration, the shock front accelerates more at higher opening speeds of the valve. The results also show that the valve-opening mechanism generates a series of reflection waves that propagate into the driven section, giving the shock wave velocity an oscillatory character, which can affect the calibration and measurement capability of the shock tube as a primary high-frequency, time-varying, pressure calibration standard.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of the Opening Speed of the Valve in a Diaphragmless Shock Tube for Metrological Purposes

Castro,

Kutin,

Svete

2024

IEEE Sensors J.

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“…In [ 5 ], the pressure fluctuations that affect the buzz phenomenon in a supersonic inlet were experimentally investigated. The measurements of the surface pressure fluctuations were also required during the development of the new Space Launcher VEGA-C in order to prevent their effect on structural vibrations that are potentially dangerous for the payload and for other components of the launcher [ 6 ]. A study presented in [ 7 ] focused on the measurements of pressure oscillations of a practical core-engine annular combustor during the start up.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of the Dynamic Response of a Side-Wall Pressure Measurement System on Determining the Pressure Step Signal in a Shock Tube Using a Time-of-Flight Method

Svete

Castro

Kutin

2022

Sensors

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Technological progress demands accurate measurements of rapidly changing pressures. This, in turn, requires the use of dynamically calibrated pressure meters. The shock tube enables the dynamic characterization by applying an almost ideal pressure step change to the pressure sensor under calibration. This paper evaluates the effect of the dynamic response of a side-wall pressure measurement system on the detection of shock wave passage times over the side-wall pressure sensors installed along the shock tube. Furthermore, it evaluates this effect on the reference pressure step signal determined at the end-wall of the driven section using a time-of-flight method. To determine the errors in the detection of the shock front passage times over the centers of the side-wall sensors, a physical model for simulating the dynamic response of the complete measurement chain to the passage of the shock wave was developed. Due to the fact that the use of the physical model requires information about the effective diameter of the pressure sensor, special attention was paid to determining the effective diameter of the side-wall pressure sensors installed along the shock tube. The results show that the relative systematic errors in the pressure step amplitude at the end-wall of the shock tube due to the errors in the detection of the shock front passage times over the side-wall pressure sensors are less than 0.0003%. On the other hand, the systematic errors in the phase lag of the end-wall pressure signal in the calibration frequency range appropriate for high-frequency dynamic pressure applications are up to a few tens of degrees. Since the target phase measurement uncertainty of the pressure sensors used in high-frequency dynamic pressure applications is only a few degrees, the corrections for the systematic errors in the detection of the shock front passage times over the side-wall pressure sensors with the use of the developed physical dynamic model are, therefore, necessary when performing dynamic calibrations of pressure sensors with a shock tube.

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“…Therefore, we propose the simulation of this environment using the unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) model, which provides a level of simplification that is computationally feasible. The URANS model has been previously used and validated to predict shock waves due to impinging supersonic jets as in [11] or for a VEGA fairing in transonic flight in [12]. Furthermore, we attempted to demonstrate that these simplifications are correct in the launchpad environment by validating with experimental data.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

URANS Analysis of a Launch Vehicle Aero-Acoustic Environment

2022

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Predicting and mitigating acoustic levels become critical because of the harsh acoustic environment during space vehicle lift-off. This paper aimed to study the aero-acoustic environment during a rocket lift-off. The sound propagation within a launch event was studied using dedicated computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The resolution of all the phenomena that occur is unfeasible. We discuss the turbulence simplification and propose a feasible simulation through an unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) model. The results were validated with experimental data showing a good correlation near the fairing surface and an improvable accuracy in the far field. To assess noise generation, the main shock waves were identified, and the evolution of the generated sound pressure was assessed. Moreover, vertical directivity was revealed by data analysis of the pressure field surrounding the fairing.

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Wind tunnel measurements of the surface pressure fluctuations on the new VEGA-C space launcher

Cited by 23 publications

References 7 publications

Effects of the Opening Speed of the Valve in a Diaphragmless Shock Tube for Metrological Purposes

Effects of the Opening Speed of the Valve in a Diaphragmless Shock Tube for Metrological Purposes

Effect of the Dynamic Response of a Side-Wall Pressure Measurement System on Determining the Pressure Step Signal in a Shock Tube Using a Time-of-Flight Method

URANS Analysis of a Launch Vehicle Aero-Acoustic Environment

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