APPLICATIONS OF COMPUTATIONAL FLUID-DYNAMICS TO THE AERODYNAMICS OF ARMY PROJECTILES

The ability to predict the complete set of aerodynamic performance par ameters for projectile configurations is the goal of the computational aerodynamicists at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory. To achieve this goal, predictive capabilities that use Navier-Stokes computational te chniques have been developed and applied to an extensive number of pro jectile configurations. A summary of code validation efforts and appli cations for both spin-stabilized and fin-stabilized projectile configu rations are described. Significant progress in the predictive capabili ty for projectile aerodynamics has been achieved through the availabil ity of substantial supercomputer resources and modern computational te chniques. Current and future research areas of interest are described and provide an indication of computer resources and code enhancements needed to continue the progress in projectile computational aerodynami cs.