Aerothermal rebuilding of plasma wind tunnel tests on the expert capsule open flap

In the frame of the InFlight Test Measurement Techniques for Aerothermodynamics activity of the EXPERT Program, the EXPERT Instrumented Open Flap Assembly ex- periment had the objective to verify the design/sensor integration over the ap and validate the CFD tools in Europe largest high enthalpy plasma facility, Scirocco. Two aps, instrumented with 14 thermocouples, 5 pressure ports, a pyrometer and an IR camera mounted in the cavity, will collect in ight data during the EXPERT re-entry mission. During the Scirocco experiment, a ap model identical to the ight article was mounted at 45 deg on a holder including cavity and was subjected to an hot plasma ow at an enthalpy up to 14 MJ/kg and at a stagnation pressure of 7 bar in four different tests performed in the same day. The present paper is related to the numerical analysis carried out to rebuild the experimental results focusing on the first of the four performed tests.