Flow past ram-air parachutes

This research is partially funded by AR & DB and ADRDE, Agra. Laminar (Re=10^4) and turbulent flows (Re=10^6) past a ram-air parachute with a leading edge cut have been computed. The flow inside the parafoil cell remains almost stagnant resulting in a high value of pressure that is responsible for giving the parafoil its shape. The values of the lift-to-drag ratio obtained with the present computations are in good agreement with those reported in the literature. The effect of the configuration of the leading edge cut on the flow is investigated. The leading edge cut has a strong influence on the lift-to-drag ratio. A new design configuration that leads to a significant improvement, over the one that is presently being used, has been suggested to ADRDE, Agra for the 9-cell parachute. Figure 11 shows a typical picture of the vorticity field for the unsteady flow.

Re=10^6, turbulent flow past
a ram-air parachute at =7.5°