Lectures

• Current Challenges in Computational Fluid Dynamics for Space Missions  (Dr. Richard Schwane - ESA) 
• Globalisation and the Future of Space Aerothermodynamics (Dr. Louis Walpot - ESA) 
• Green Propellants for New Space (Dr. Helmut Ciezki - DLR) 
• Ground Testing for Future Space Transportation Systems (Dipl.-Ing. Anja Frank - DLR) 

Current Challenges in Computational Fluid
Dynamics for Space Missions 
(Dr. Richard Schwane - ESA) 

This lecture addresses the status of CFD activities to support planning, design and prototyping of spacecraft for ESA missions. 

Flows on ground and in orbit are governed by the same physical relations, i.e. conservation of mass, momentum and energy, which is expressed by the Navier Stokes equations for flows under the continuum assumption. 

Challenges in prediction of orbital flows are therefore mainly originating from the description of the environmental impact on the flow field, i.e. the initial and boundary conditions. Accuracy and robustness of existing CFD tools has to be assessed thoroughly, if flow conditions that are expressed by similarity parameters are not observable on ground and have therefore not been considered in the development and validation of present CFD tools.

Based on some selected applications, the lecture will present typical CFD solutions, e.g. on analysis of loads from launcher base flows, plume interactions, contamination and more recently, application of CFD methods to flows in micro gravity and capillary flow fields.

For each example the lecture will analyse and present the leading causes of deviation between experiment, flight and CFD prediction and discuss means for mitigation of the observed prediction inaccuracies. Particular attention will be paid to implementation and validation of physical and empirical modelling in CFD solutions, where physical mechanisms that are not covered by the Navier Stokes equations can become dominant in orbit.  

Globalisation and the Future of Space Aerothermodynamics
(Dr. Louis Walpot - ESA)

This lecture addresses the use of aerothermodynamics tools in support of the ESA (re-)entry vehicles. The aerothermodynamic design of space vehicles depends upon databases providing the forces, moments, temperatures and heat fluxes along the chosen trajectories. The knowledge to safety fly future hypersonic space vehicles is generally anchored by ground-based experiments, CFD, ground-to-flight extrapolation and heritage. An important issue for the CFD simulation is their validation to safely extrapolate to flight and when possible validating with the limited flight data. In this course the thermo-chemical non-equilibrium NS codes will be addressed, the ground-based facilities and flight testing, each with their associated limitations. The lectures will also show how the aerothermodynamics tools were employed and the lessons learned for flown re-entry vehicles among, ARD, Huygens, IXV and Exomars. 

Green Propellants for New Space
(Dr. Helmut K. Ciezki - DLR)

Ground Testing for Future Space Transportation Systems 
(Dipl.-Ing. Anja Frank - DLR)

DLR Lampoldshausen is a unique site with a high number of test capacities for liquid space propulsion, ranging from research to exploitation testing. In a first part of the lecture an overview to the current status of the capabilities is given. In the second part of the lecture the foreseen evolution of the test site and its’ capabilities for the testing of future space transportation systems will be presented.