HALO3D: An All-Mach Approach to Hypersonic Flows Simulation

Abstract

This paper presents HALO3D, a CFD code simulating the wide range of Mach numbers a hypervelocity vehicle experiences. HALO3D is composed of (a) a RANS edge-based Finite Element (FE) solver modelling high-velocity thermo-chemical non-equilibrium flows, (b) an electromagnetic interactions solver, (c) an ablation module, (d) a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) solver for the rarefied regime, seamlessly linked to the continuum one, and (e) a powerful automatic mesh optimiser finely capturing the many singular hypersonic flow phenomena. Verification and validation simulations for two- and three-dimensional hypersonic flows over a flat plate, a cylinder, a blunt conical body, re-entry capsules, and a waverider geometry demonstrate accurate aerothermodynamic predictions in a wide range of Knudsen numbers, complex geometries and multiphysics.