Performance of a Subscale CPAS Conical Ribbon Drogue Parachute in a Turbulent Wake

Ten percent scale Orion conical ribbon drogue parachutes were tested in the wake of a 10% Orion crew module in a 3x2.1 m (10'x7') subsonic wind tunnel. The motivation behind the test program was to provide a cost-efficient aerodynamic performance database that captured the "wake-effect" of the crew module on the parachute. A secondary purpose was to provide a comprehensive computational fluid dynamics validation dataset. The subscale parachutes were geometrically scaled to the full-scale configuration in terms of geometric porosity, number of gores and ribbons, and trailing distance. The program explored the aerodynamic parametric space, including crew module angle of attack, Reynolds number, and dynamic pressure. The test program also allowed comparison of the performance of various parachute configurations including reefing and clustering. Non-intrusive diagnostics were utilized including a three-axis load cell, force balance, high speed imaging, and particle image velocimetry. Data to be presented include average and time varying drag and parachute shape. 2013 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc.

Performance of a Subscale CPAS Conical Ribbon Drogue Parachute in a Turbulent Wake Conference Paper