Book Description

An experimental and computational study has been carried out of investigate the aerodynamic characteristics of a square cross-section body at supersonic speeds. The results show that a square cross-section body generates higher normal force and offers improved lift-to-drag ratios when compared with conventional circular cross-section bodies for certain preferred orientations. However it was found that square cross-section bodies can also generate significant lateral forces and moments, and very complicated leeside vortical flowfields which complicate the missile control system. A Parabolized Navier-Stokes solver was successfully employed to predict the forces and moments, and provided added valuable insight into the complex vortical flows which develop on the leeside of bodies at incidence.