REVIEW AND EXTENSION OF COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FOR NONCIRCULAR CROSS-SECTIONAL WEAPONS

A review of current state-of-the-art methods for computing aerodynamic s of noncircular cross-sectional weapon concepts has been performed. I n addition, an improved engineering method has been developed to compu te aerodynamics of these nonaxisymmetric body configurations. The impr oved method is based on extending current state-of-the-art methods for computing aerodynamics of noncircular wing-body shapes based on circu lar wing-body methods. Specific additions to the state-of the-art meth ods currently in use include extensions to a broader class of cross-se ctional bodies and to a higher angle of attack; extensions to allow im proved accuracy at low crossflow Mach number and to allow body cross-s ectional shape to impact the critical crossflow Reynolds number; and a method to treat wing-body interference factor corrections as a functi on of body geometry, Mach number, and angle of attack. The new methods were applied to a broad class of noncircular body alone and wing-body configurations for which wind-tunnel data were available. In general, results for normal force, axial force, and center-of-pressure predict ions were quite good for a semiempirical methodology, over the Mach nu mber and angle-of-attack range where data were available. Range of var iables included Mach numbers as low as 0.3 and as high as 14 and angle s of attack to 60 deg.