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ACTA AERONAUTICAET ASTRONAUTICA SINICA ›› 2017, Vol. 38 ›› Issue (5): 120625-120625.doi: 10.7527/S1000-6893.2016.0260

• Fluid Mechanics and Flight Mechanics • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Test particle Monte Carlo method for rapid prediction of aerodynamic properties of spacecraft in lower LEO

JIN Xuhong, HUANG Fei, CHENG Xiaoli, WANG Qiang   

  1. China Academy of Aerospace Aerodynamics, Beijing 100074, China
  • Received:2016-07-19 Revised:2016-09-22 Online:2017-05-15 Published:2016-10-08

Abstract:

Fast and accurate prediction of aerodynamic properties of satellites in lower low Earth orbit (LEO) is a fundamental prerequisite for determination and control of the orbit. Based on the test particle Monte Carlo (TPMC) method for the calculation of molecular flux rate through a pipe in vacuum technology, the TPMC method for fast and accurate prediction of aerodynamic properties of spacecraft in lower LEO is developed, combined with the free-molecular theory. The main simulation processes and important procedures are presented. The method is validated by comparing the aerodynamic properties of a satellite with two solar panels with the results from the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) technique and the panel integral method based on free-molecular flow theory. It is indicated that the TPMC method is applicable to complex configurations in engineering. Results also shows that the TPMC method is capable of dealing with multiple reflections that the panel integral method cannot consider, resulting in an accurate aerodynamic coefficient. In addition, the CPU time and physical memory used by the TPMC method is less than that by the DSMC technique by an order of 3 to 4 and 1 to 2, respectively, without compromising the solution accuracy. The TPMC is found to be an ideal method for fast and accurate prediction of aerodynamic properties of satellites in lower LEO.

Key words: low Earth orbit, satellite, aerodynamic properties, multiple reflections, test particle Monte Carlo (TPMC), plate

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