Database of Computational-Fluid-Dynamics-Based Buffet-Induced Forces for Artemis I Structural Response Evaluation

Time-accurate FUN3D simulations are used to estimate buffet-induced unsteady forces experienced by the Space Launch System during the Artemis I (AR01) flight. A set of FUN3D simulations was developed that employed time-accurate mesh translations to simulate the changing velocity and attitude based on the AR01 best estimated trajectory. In these simulations, referred to as accelerating-flow simulations, the freestream Mach number increased from 0.80 to 1.92. Additional time-accurate simulations were obtained at constant freestream Mach number equal to 0.95, 1.18, and 1.70, thereby simulating stationary conditions experienced by the flow in a wind tunnel. Based on favorable comparisons between simulated and flight-measured environments, the FUN3D-based surface pressures were used to develop a buffet forcing function (BFF) database. This BFF database was analyzed to characterize the spatial distribution and frequency content of the buffet-induced forces during transonic and supersonic portions of the AR01 flight. The region of interest is located downstream of the forward attachment (FA) hardware between the core stage and the solid rocket boosters where vortex shedding off the FA protuberance produces significant unsteadiness. The analysis reveals that, at transonic and supersonic conditions, buffet forces that are based on constant freestream Mach number data are a good approximation of those based on accelerating-flow simulations.