EXPERIMENTAL TESTING AND NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF SEPARATION DISTURBANCES FOR TWO-STAGE KINETIC ENERGY MISSILES

摘要

Novel kinetic energy missile concepts use a solid rocket booster to propel a kinetic energy penetrator at hypersonic speeds. To achieve the requirements of kinetic energy at the target, the embedded penetrator must separate from the booster after bumout, to minimize deceleration. The efficient separation of the embedded dart from the booster is a novel challenge which is examined in the present paper. In order to study the dynamics of the separation phase, two complementary approaches were chosen : ⅰ) Experimental gun firing of subscale, passive separation models and ⅱ) Numerical trajectory simulations for the separation of two bodies in flight. The paper will present results obtained and the general understanding of the complex physics behind the separation phase acquired. Good agreement was obtained between the simulations and experiments and simulations showed the influence of different parameters on the separation dynamics.