Numerical investigation of the supersonic stabilizing parachute's heating loads

In the design of the scale reduced model of the new generation reusable re-entry capsule, the supersonic stabilizing parachute should be applied to avoid the failure of the main parachute due to the uncertainty of the space capsule's attitude. Compared with the inflation technology during the subsonic process, special attention should be paid to the aerodynamic heating loads during the inflation process at supersonic speeds. In this manuscript, the inflation process of the supersonic stabilizing parachute is numerically studied by adopting the fluid–structure coupling method. The three-dimensional compressible Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) equations are simulated and Menter's shear stress transport (SST) turbulence model is applied. Also, we study the aerodynamic heating loads of the stabilizing parachute by conducting numerical simulations at a typical reentry trajectory point. Results suggest that the wake of the capsule increases the temperature of the flow field remarkably. Also, the inner faces of the parachute encounter severer heating loads than the outer faces, and the severest heating load appears at the first horizontal parachute belt.