Thermochemical nonequilibrium computations of a Brazilian reentry satellite

A study investigates the SARA capsule configuration at a 95 kmaltitude using the direct simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. The main focus of this research is to assess the influence of chemical reactions in the temperature and atomic oxygen profiles at different position around the vehicle. This information is of fundamental importance to the development of reliable and low-cost thermal protection systems (TPSs). The DSMC method models the flow as a collection of particles. Each particle has a position, velocity, and internal energy. The state of the particle is stored and modified with time as the particles move, collide, and interact with the surface in the simulated physical domain. The assumption of a dilute gas allows the particle motion to be decoupled from the particle collisions. The decoupling of the particle motion and the particle collision is possible when the system evolution time is shorter than the collision time.