Atmospheric Flow at Alcântara Launch Center

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5902/2179460X53217

Keywords:

Flow around an obstacle, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Atmospheric turbulence, Rocket launch

Abstract

The atmospheric flow at Alcântara Launch Center (CLA) was studied using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques. To characterize the region were considered the coastal cliff and the Integration Mobile Tower, called TMI, both within the launching and preparation area (SPL). In this study, the cliff was represented by a step of 90° with 40 meters of height. The inlet velocity profile was elaborate according to the power law, with exponent of 0.11, freestream velocity of 20 m/s and Reynolds number of 4.3 x 105, adopting neutral atmosphere. Three wind directions were considered, 90º, 125º and 135°. The numerical model used was the Reynolds Stress Model (RSM), based on the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations. The solution of the equations was obtained by ANSYS FLUENT 19, which uses the finite volume method. The results showed good agreement with the wind tunnel tests especially for wind direction perpendicular to the cliff. The incident wind direction strongly influences the flow dynamics in the SPL forming a helicoidal vortex over the coastal cliff the higher the wind slope.

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Author Biographies

Karine Klippel, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES

Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), Doutoranda do Departamento de Engenharia Ambiental na área de Poluição do ar

Elisa Valentim Goulart, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES

Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), Professora do Departamento de Engenharia Ambiental

Gilberto Fisch, Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço, São José dos Campos, SP

Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE), Pesquisador Titular, especialista em Meteorologia Aeroespacial e estudos de turbulência atmosférica do ponto de vista observacional e de modelagem, no Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara

Neyval Costa Reis Junior, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo, Vitória, ES

Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), Professor titular do Departamento de Engenharia Ambiental

Cayo Prado Fernandes Francisco, Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço, São José dos Campos, SP

Instituto de Aeronáutica e Espaço (IAE), Pesquisador da Divisão de Aerodinâmica

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Published

2020-08-28

How to Cite

Klippel, K., Goulart, E. V., Fisch, G., Reis Junior, N. C., & Francisco, C. P. F. (2020). Atmospheric Flow at Alcântara Launch Center. Ciência E Natura, 42, e35. https://doi.org/10.5902/2179460X53217

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