Summary of Progress for the DoD HPCMP Hypersonic Vehicle Simulation Institute

Simulation approaches for hypersonic vehicles have been around for decades, with many of the early semi-empirical methods being drawn from theoretical and experimental knowledge developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Some of those approaches have stood the test of time and can do a reasonable job predicting pressures at high Mach numbers, but the prediction of other parameters, such as heat transfer, have always been challenging. Over time, CFD has become the simulation approach most typically used for hypersonic vehicles, but typical CFD codes developed for lower Mach regimes require the inclusion of multiple physical phenomena that are not currently modeled appropriately, or are not included at all, in many simulation codes. These physical aspects include: combustion physics, turbulence and transition, fluid-thermal-structural interactions, non-equilibrium chemistry, shock-boundary layer interactions, and ablation. Without the inclusion of these aspects of hypersonic flight (either through physics-based prediction or appropriate modeling), simulation of hypersonic vehicles is deficient and cannot properly provide full support to the development and acquisition of hypersonic vehicles. In order to improve the national capability in hypersonic vehicle RDT&E, a Hypersonic Vehicle Simulation Institute has been established by the DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Program at the US Air Force Academy. The institute is following a multi-pronged, multi-year approach to address these shortcomings in hypersonic vehicle simulation. Details about the progress will be included, such as the various turbulence and transition modeling projects that are taking place, and the various validation experiments that are being supported. How these projects are interacting with various government labs and the aerospace industry will also be discussed.