Computational fluid dynamics investigations of aerodynamic control surfaces of a vertical landing configuration

Abstract The European project RETALT (Retro Propulsion Assisted Landing Technologies), funded by the Horizon 2020 framework program (Grant agreement No 821890), has as main objective to investigate critical technologies for the assisted descent and landing of re-usable first stages. Among these technologies, one can find aerodynamics, aerothermodynamics, flight dynamics, guidance navigation and control (GNC), Structures, mechanisms, thrust vector control (TVC) and thermal protection systems (TPS). The present paper focuses in particularly on the aerodynamics technology applied to a vertical landing launcher configuration, called RETALT1, including retro-propulsion. During the landing phase of the first stage of the launcher, the main devices for control and trim of the vehicle (besides the retro-propulsion) are the aerodynamic control surfaces (ACS). Three types of aerodynamic control surfaces are investigated by means of numerical computations, using the NSMB (Navier Stokes Multi Block) CFD code. The control surfaces considered are the deployable interstage segments (also named petals), grid fins and planar fins. Aerodynamic coefficients as well as forces acting on the control surfaces are extracted from the CFD computations to assess the efficiency of each type of devices and to populate the Aerodynamic Database (AEDB) for flight dynamic analysis.