STUDY OF MINIMAL EFFECTIVE REEFING RATIO BASED ON AN EMPIRICAL FORMULA AND FLUID-STRUCTURE-INTERACTION METHOD

The reefing ratio for the first stage of a parachute limits the reefing ratio for the subsequent stages, so its minimal effective value is very important. In this paper, an empirical formula is derived to calculate the minimal effective reefing ratio. The empirical parameters are obtained by the arbitrary Lagrangian–Eulerian/fluid–structure interaction (ALE/FSI) method. By using the FSI method, the typical flow and structure fields of effective and ineffective reefed parachutes are revealed. The numerical results including drag characteristics and final shape are very consistent with wind tunnel tests. The curves of the empirical parameters with reefing ratios are obtained. The minimal effective reefing ratio obtained by the empirical formula is consistent with that of the numerical results, which shows that the empirical formula has high accuracy.