ATD3 Workshop 2026

Session

Revisiting the VKI Free-Flying Ring Test Case

Jun 19, 2026, 11:28 AM

Altaïr meeting room (Toulouse - Cité de l'Espace)

Conveners

Revisiting the VKI Free-Flying Ring Test Case

• Stephane Galera (CNES)

84. Revisiting the VKI Free-Flying Ring Test Case: A Possible Geometric Explanation for Drag Overprediction in CFD Rebuilding Efforts

MARTIN SPEL (RTECH)

6/19/26, 11:28 AM

Numerical modelling and validation of destructive re-entry

Presentation

The VKI free-flying ring test case has become an important benchmark for hypersonic shock-body interaction and six-degree-of-freedom free-flight prediction. Several independent CFD rebuilding efforts, including those from DLR, CIRA, Strathclyde, and RTECH, have reproduced the flow physics of the experiment but have consistently predicted a drag coefficient higher than that inferred from the...