A profile of aerodynamic research in VSSC with application to satellite launch vehicles

Some of the aerodynamic and fluid dynamic problems associated with the satellite launch vehicles of the Indian Space programme are discussed in this paper. Taking into account the aerodynamic flight profile of a launch vehicle and also the configurations of interest, the topics considered are vehicle lift-off fluid dynamics, strap-on aerodynamics, strap-on separation problem, stage separation aerodynamics, boat-tail aerodynamics, hypersonic flow problems and some special fluid dynamic problems of interest like nozzle flows and shock wave-boundary layer interaction. The topics are mostly related to external fluid dynamics though certain aspects of internal ballistics are also touched upon. More emphasis is placed on the results and their applications rather than on the methodology used. Also, the main features of two special wind tunnel facilities developed at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) — the hypersonic wind tunnel and the heat transfer facility — are discussed briefly. It is hoped that this paper will give an idea of the profile of aerodynamic research being conducted inVSSC with application to satellite launch vehicles in view.