Stagnation point heat flux characterization under numerical error and boundary conditions uncertainty

International audienceThe numerical simulation of hypersonic atmospheric entry flows is a challenging problem. Prediction of quantities of interest, such as surface heat flux and pressure, is strongly influenced by the mesh quality using conventional second-order spatial accuracy schemes, while depending on the boundary conditions, which generally suffer from uncertainty. This paper explores these two aspects, illustrating a CFD study on the forebody of the EXPERT vehicle of the European Space Agency employing the US3D solver