Artemis I Versus Wind-Tunnel Buffet-Induced Forces and Structural Responses

What is it about?

Rockets flying through the atmosphere near the speed of sound experience intense aerodynamic forces due to phenomena collectively referred to as buffet. These forces vary rapidly with time and cause the rocket to vibrate. This paper analyzes how the Artemis I rocket was excited by buffet during the first flight of the Artemis program. This flight took place on November 16, 2022, from NASA Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Both the buffet unsteady forces exciting the Artemis I rocket, and their induced structural vibrations were measured during flight. The paper compares buffet induced vibrations during the Artemis I flight to those derived based on ground testing in a wind tunnel. It shown that, outside of vortex shedding frequencies, wind-tunnel-based vibrations induced on the Artemis rocket by buffet compare reasonably well to those measured during flight.

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