Numerical study on lateral jet control efficiency of a hypersonic re-entry double-cone vehicle

Lateral jet control is an effective means for vehicle attitude and trajectory control. Based on the three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations, a numerical simulation study of the flow field surrounding the lateral jets of re-entry double-cone vehicles was carried out in order to investigate the variation of jet control efficiency of hypersonic re-entry double-cone vehicles with flight conditions and flight attitude angles. The study analyzed the influence of flight Mach number, altitude, angle of attack, and sideslip angle on jet control efficiency and revealed the corresponding flow mechanisms. The results indicate that increasing the flight Mach number or reducing the flight altitude can significantly enhance the control efficiency of normal force and pitch moment during lateral jet control. As the flight altitude increases, the control efficiency gradually approaches 1. The interaction between the lateral jet and the incoming flow causes a large area of jet gas to act on the vehicle’s surface when the angle of attack are −20° and −30°. This results in a negative control efficiency of the jet normal force but an improvement in the control efficiency of the jet pitch moment. As the angle of attack changes towards positive values, the jet normal force control efficiency gradually becomes positive and reaches its optimum at 10°, while the jet pitch moment control efficiency approaches 1. Changes in flight sideslip angle have a relatively small impact on jet control efficiency.