Drag And Stability Characteristics Of A Variety Of Reefed And Unreefed Parachute Configurations At Mach 1 80 With An Empirical Correlation For Supersonic Mach Numbers

An investigation was conducted at Mach 1.80 in the Langley 4-foot supersonic pressure tunnel to determine the effects of variation in reefing ratio and geometric porosity on the drag and stability characteristics of four basic canopy types deployed in the wake of a cone-cylinder forebody. The basic designs included cross, hemisflo, disk-gap-band, and extended-skirt canopies; however, modular cross and standard flat canopies and a ballute were also investigated. An empirical correlation was determined which provides a fair estimation of the drag coefficients in transonic and supersonic flow for parachutes of specific geometric porosity and reefing ratio.

Lists citations with abstracts for aerospace related reports obtained from world wide sources and announces documents that have recently been entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Database.

A reefed B.2-meter nominal-diameter (40-ft) disk-gap-band parachute was flight tested as part of the NASA Supersonic High Altitude Parachute Experiment (SHAPE) program. A three-stage rocket was used to drive an instrumented test payload to an altitude of 43.6 km (143 000 ft) and a Mach number of 2.58 where the parachute was deployed by means of a mortar. After a time delay of about 8.5 seconds, the parachute was disreefed at a Mach number of 0.99. The report contains an analysis of parachute inflation, drag, and stability for both the reefed and unreefed parts of the test. In addition, detailed descriptions of the test parachute, the reefing system, and the parachute packing procedurea are included.

Ten flight tests of modified-ringsail, disk-gap-band, and cross parachute configurations with deployment at Mach numbers and dynamic pressures corresponding to conditions expected during entry into a Martian atmosphere have been completed. Comparison of flight results indicates that theoretical snatch force values were never exceeded when the deployment techniques of these tests were used. Opening loads showed no definite trend with Mach number. Values for filling times compared favorably with generally accepted empirical curves based on 15-percent geometric porosity. Canopy stability was good when Mach numbers were below 1.4 for the modified-ringsail and disk-gap-band configurations.

A drop-test investigation has been conducted to determine the stability and drag characteristics of radially vented (duplex) parachutes. Parachutes of two different designs were tested: a large parachute with high geometric porosity and a small parachute with low geometric porosity designed for the same descent velocity with the same load. The results of the tests show that the large high-porosity duplex parachute was very stable in descent, oscillations averaging about [plus-or-minus]3.40; and the average drag coefficient based on the total canopy area and based on the fabric area alone were approximately 0.38 and 0.55, respectively. The small, low-porosity duplex parachute was also very stable in descent, oscillations averaging about [plus-or-minus]4.50; and the average drag coefficients based on the total canopy area and based on the fabric area alone were approximately 0.62 and 0.79, respectively. The oscillations for the cluster of three solid flat circular parachutes, tested for comparison purposes, were [plus-or-minus]7.10. The average drag coefficients based on the total canopy area and the fabric area alone were approximately 0.64 and 0.65, respectively.