Simulations of Dusty Flows over Full-Scale Capsule During Martian Entry

Suspended dust particles can have adverse effects on heat shields during Mars atmospheric entry. For instance, they can increase both surface heating and surface recession. Current studies on this subject often make many simplifications, focus on a specific physical process, or include flow conditions different from those on Mars. To address this, we perform computational fluid dynamics simulations of hypersonic dusty flows over a full-scale entry capsule based on a realistic flight trajectory. The simulations are performed with an Euler–Lagrange methodology in which the carrier gas solution is obtained with a discontinuous Galerkin method. We employ a recently developed physics-based drag correlation that obtains better agreement with experimental data than popular existing correlations. To improve understanding of the relevant physical processes, which are still not very well understood, the effects of various factors, such as particle size distribution, angle of attack, and two-way coupling, on dust-induced heating augmentation and erosion are assessed.