Computational Fluid Dynamics Flow Field Solutions for a Kinetic Energy (KE) Projectile With Sabot

摘要

A study was undertaken to investigate and analyze the flow field results produced by various computational solvers for a projectile of interest to the U.S. Army. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) techniques were used to obtain numerical solutions for the flow field of a kinetic energy projectile with the original and a modified (experimental) sabot. Computed results were obtained at Mach 4.5 and a 0 deg angle of attack. Qualitative flow field features showed the pressure on the surface of the model as well as pressures in the flow field. The surface pressure data on the projectile were extracted from the solution files and compared. In all cases, the results were comparable. These results show the predictive capabilities of CFD techniques in the analysis of supersonic flow over projectiles with sabots. They also provide an insight into the software capabilities of several of the many tools available to research scientists in the field of CFD.