Coupled Aerostructural Modeling of Deployable Aerodecelerators for Mars Entry

An analysis of deployable aerodecelerators has been performed using a developed six-degree-of-freedom entry trajectory simulator coupled with a structural model of the deployable structural members, or ribs, to investigate the effect of aerodecelerator flexibility on the trajectory and configuration design. The modified Newtonian method is used in the entry trajectory simulator, and the deployable ribs are modeled as Euler–Bernoulli beams. It is shown that, although flexibility is beneficial in reducing the mass and volume of the deployed ribs, an increase in peak heat flux will result. However, if mass savings from flexible ribs can be reallocated toward increasing the diameter of the entry vehicle, significant benefits can be gained.