Numerical Simulation of Transient Jet-Interaction Phenomenology in a Supersonic Freestream

Abstract

The objective is to evaluate the transient effects of a reaction control jet on the aerodynamic performance of a genericinterceptormissileoperating at supersonice ightconditions.Three-dimensionalcomputationsofthehighly turbulent e owe eld produced by a pulsed, supersonic, lateral-jet control thruster interacting with the supersonic freestream and missile boundary layer of a generic interceptor missile are evaluated at different altitudes and thruster conditions. A generic missile interceptor cone guration consisting of a long, slender body containing e xed dorsal and tail e ns is simulated. Parametric computational e uid dynamic solutions are obtained at altitude conditions corresponding to 19.7 and 35.1 km for 1 ) steady-state conditions with the lateral control jet turned off, 2) steady-state conditions with the lateral control jet turned on, 3 ) transient jet startup conditions, and 4 ) transient jet shutdown conditions. A thermally and calorically perfect gas with a specie c heat ratio equal to 1.4 was assumed for both the Mach number 5 freestream and Mach number 3 lateral jet. Vehicle forces and moments are assessed from each solution by integrating the surface pressures and viscous shear stresses computed on the missile surfaces. These results are used to determine the ine uence of the jet-interaction effects on the transient aerodynamicperformanceofthemissile.Theanalysispredictsstrongtransientine uencesfortheintegratednormal force and pitching moment.