The turbulent wake §ow of generic rocket con¦gurations is investigated experimentally and numerically at a freestream Mach number of 6.0 and a unit Reynolds number of 10 · 10 6 m −1 . The §ow condition is based on the trajectory of Ariane V-like launcher at an altitude of 50 km, which is used as the baseline to address the overarching tasks of wake §ows in the hypersonic regime like §uid-structural coupling, reverse hot jets and base heating. Experimental results using pressure transducers and the high-speed Schlieren measurement technique are shown to gain insight into the local pressure §uctuations on the base and the oscillations of the recompression shock. This experimental con¦guration features a wedgepro¦led strut orthogonally mounted to the main body. Additionally, the in §uence of cylindrical dummy nozzles attached to the base of the rocket is investigated, which is the link to the numerical investigations. Here, the axisymmetric model possesses a cylindrical sting support of the same diameter as the dummy nozzles. The sting support allows investigations for an undisturbed wake §ow. A time-accurate zonal Reynolds-Averaged NavierStokes / Large Eddy Simulation (RANS/LES) approach is applied to identify shocks, expansion waves, and the highly unsteady recompression region numerically. Subsequently, experimental and numerical results in the strut-averted region are compared with regard to the wall pressure and recompression shock frequency spectra. For the compared con¦gurations, experimental pressure spectra exhibit dominant Strouhal numbers at about Sr D = 0.03 and 0.27, and the recompression shock oscillates at 0.2. In general, the pressure and recompression shock §uctuations numerically calculated agree reasonably with the experimental results. The experiments with a blunt base reveal base-pressure spectra with dominant Strouhal numbers at 0.08 at the center position and 0. 145, 0.210.22, and 0.310.33 at the outskirts of the base.

Numerical simulations of the near wake of generic rocket con¦gurations are performed at transonic and supersonic freestream conditions to improve the understanding of the highly intricate near wake structures. The Reynolds number in both §ow regimes is 10 6 based on the main body diameter, i. e., speci¦c freestream conditions of ESA£s Ariane launcher trajectory. The geometry matches models used in experiments in the framework of the German Transregional Collaborative Research Center TRR40. Both axisymmetric wind tunnel models possess cylindrical sting supports, representing a nozzle to allow investigations of a less disturbed wake §ow. A zonal approach consisting of a Reynolds averaged NavierStokes (RANS) and a large-eddy simulation (LES) is applied. It is shown that the highly unsteady transonic wake §ow at Ma ∞ = 0.7 is characterized by the expanding separated shear layer, while the Mach 6.0 wake is de¦ned by a shock, expansion waves, and a recompression region. In both cases, an instantaneous view on the base characteristics reveals complex azimuthal §ow structures even for axisymmetric geometries. The §ow regimes are discussed by comparing the aerodynamic characteristics, such as the size of the recirculation region and the turbulent kinetic energy.