In this simulation, 57 spheres are accelerated by a uniform hypersonic freestream of Mach number 10. The spheres are orignally in a face-centered-cubic configuration of a roughly spherical shape. This configuration is held until a steady flow has been established, at which point the spheres are given an impulsive acceleration away from their common center. The subsequent motion is determined by the aerodynamic loadings experienced, but over the timeframe of the simulation the induced velocities are small compared to the initial velocities. The slices show density profiles on various planes, while the contour is one of density gradient, and shows the position of the bow shockwave. [source codes]
The details of the computation are as follows:
-- StuartLaurence - 20 Aug 2005