View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2022-0741.vid

This work presents an evaluation of different turbulence closure models to solve the rocket plume flow of a 32.5-ton lander on Mars environment. We evaluated Spalart-Allmaras (SA), k-epsilon, k-omega, and Reynolds stress model (RSM) in a 2D axisymmetric model. To discretize the domain, we used a mesh with 162.5 thousand elements, composed of trimmed quadrilaterals that provided independent results associated with velocity profiles. This study emphasizes turbulence closure models significantly affect the flow characteristics of the rocket plume impinging a flat surface, such as shock wave patterns, shear, and pressure on the impinging surface. We emphasize the capabilities and deficiencies of each model to capture these flow characteristics in the context of a lander hovering at an altitude of 9 m from the ground on Mars environment. k-epsilon and SA models provided stable steady solutions, while the RSM and k-omega models presented stable solutions of the flow before the impingement only. Considering general flow characteristics, the shock wave interfaces prediction, and radial expansion, the k-epsilon model provided the best description of the rocket plume on the Mars environment among the four models investigated in this study.