Missile Aerodynamics

Abstract

AbstractIn this chapter, the aerodynamics of bodies of revolution, low‐aspect‐ratio wings, and wing–body combinations is discussed. Typical projectiles and missiles reach subsonic, transonic, or supersonic flight speeds, and the angle of attack may vary over a substantial range. Therefore, the major phenomena caused by compressible or viscous flow effects such as wave drag, flow separation, and vortex generation, need to be part of this discussion. It is shown that the aerodynamics of slender missile configurations flying at zero or small angles of attack can be described by a relatively simple inviscid flow theory, called slender body theory. At zero angle of attack, the flow is composed of two contributions: a flow in planes perpendicular to the flight direction, the so‐called cross flow, and a flow that depends only on the variation of the missile cross section in the flight direction. This recognition leads to the equivalence or area rule that states that the transonic/supersonic wave drag is the same for missiles with equal cross‐sectional area distributions. This same slender body theory also leads to the recognition that the lifting forces on missiles flying at small angle of attack depend only on the cross flow. In contrast, the flow generated by missiles flying at large angles of attack is very complex due to strong vortices shed from the missile body and wings, requiring the solution of the full three‐dimensional viscous flow equations.