Aerodynamic Modeling AIAA SciTech 2025 - SimDynamX/SpaceTeamsPRO GitHub Wiki
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Real-Time Multi-Regime Aerodynamic Modeling for Arbitrary Geometries in Planetary Atmospheric Flight
Authors
Krishnan Vellore, Hector A. Cervantes, Gabriel Gray, Imam El-Loubani, Ivette Orrego, Gavin Szot, Nathan Wigginton, Bryce Wilson and Dr. Gregory Chamitoff
Abstract
This paper outlines a methodology for computing the aerodynamics of an arbitrarily shaped body in real-time. The research aims to effectively enable flight vehicle design, testing, and evaluation within a simulated digital twin model of a planetary atmosphere. It encompasses the modeling and simulation of all systems, such as guidance and control, thermal management, propulsion, aerodynamics, and human-in-the-loop piloting. Applications range from launch-to-orbit vehicle design to entry, descent, and landing. This paper addresses the aerodynamic portion of such a simulation, including the incompressible subsonic, compressible subsonic, supersonic, and hypersonic flows around an arbitrary unstructured mesh. The subsonic model utilizes MachLine, an incompressible inviscid Panel Method. The paper also outlines a novel supersonic and hypersonic model that applies two-dimensional shock theory and expansion fans with graph theory to an arbitrary three-dimensional geometry. A real-time aerodynamics model allows designers to solve the aerodynamics of a vehicle quicker than traditional computational fluid dynamics, enabling its use in holistic mission and vehicle simulations with human-in-the-loop capabilities without a significant loss of accuracy. The models presented have been verified with experimental results of the Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle Crew Capsule at different angles of attack and Mach numbers.