Analysis of Error and Cost in Coupling Approaches for Hypersonic Trajectory Simulations

For high-speed aerothermal applications, several physical processes interact with each other, requiring communication between physics solvers at discrete times to model the multi-physics processes. The discrete data exchange introduces additional error in the time-varying solution. Therefore, understanding the error introduced by the coupling approach is crucial for developing accurate tools for problems such as designing thermal protection systems for atmospheric entry. In this paper, the error and the cost of coupling approaches for hypersonic trajectory simulations are investigated. The results of these approaches are presented in the context of a hypersonic flight experiment/trajectory. The influence of coupling variables on error, including the number of strong coupling iterations, solid time step, and number of fluid time steps, is analyzed, and the computational cost for the solvers is discussed.