Publications
Introduction of the PIRATE program for parametric reentry vehicle plasma effects studies
Design procedures for hypersonic flight systems have changed dramatically over the years. To this end, a new capability (PIRATE) to analyze the interaction of reentry systems with their enveloping plasma is introduced. PIRATE is a driver program to solve the coupled physics problem of motion, heating, thermal response, chemistry, inviscid flowfield, and electromagnetic wave propagation/interaction for hypersonic flight systems in an automated fashion. A total of thirteen programs are coupled and controlled from a single software procedure to iteratively solve a complex design problem. The immediate benefit of this type of analysis is to guide design work as well as to more wisely choose costly test flights in regions that may be most stressing for a design concept. Sample results of a parametric study for a standard hypersonic flight system are presented to illustrate the utility of the program.