Numerical Simulation of a Spinning Missile with Dithering Canards Using Unstructured Grids

Blades, E. L., & Marcum, D. (2004). Numerical Simulation of a Spinning Missile with Dithering Canards Using Unstructured Grids. Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets. American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. 41(2), 248-256.

Euler and Navier-Stokes solutions were obtained using an unstructured grid approach to predict the aerodynamic performance of a spinning missile with dithering canards. Integrated force and moment coefficients were computed, along with helicity contours to track the horseshoe vortices being generated by the canards. Comparisons were made to determine the effect of grid resolution and viscous effects. The grid resolution study was performed using 3 levels of refinement. Comparison of the viscous and inviscid force and moment coefficients revealed that the viscous effects were not significant for this low angle of attack. The largest viscous contribution was to the axial force, which was approximately 10% of the total axial force. Overall the viscous effects were minimal since the flow is supersonic and remains attached and there are no regions of separated flow where viscous effects are important. The vortices are due to the pressure differences acting on the canards and not due to viscous boundary layer separation along the missile body. It was found that at certain roll orientations, the canards do impinge on the tail fins. Solution comparisons were made to results from another high-resolution viscous flow solver and to experimental data and the results compared favorably to both.