Aeroballistic Range Tests of Missile Configurations with Non-Circular Cross Sections

摘要

Non-axisymmetric body shapes are currently being considered by weapon designers. These applications and requirements include increased range, increased maneuverability, and conformal stores to reduce aircraft drag or radar signature. The objective of this test program is to obtain experimental aerodynamics on several basic cross sectional shape variations, The resulting database will serve to supplement the existing database of experimentally determined aerodynamics and will be used to improve current analytical methodologies associated with aerodynamic predictions. Aerodynamic force and moment coefficients have been extracted from the measured free-flight data in the AFRL Aeroballistic Research Facility (ARF). The range of Mach numbers covered during these trials included Mach 0.75 to 3.5 and comprised a total of 104 flights. A total of seven configurations were tested and evaluated at the ARF: four-fin circular, three-fin circular, 0.3 eccentric elliptical (four-fin), 0.6 eccentric elliptical (four-fin), 0.8/0.6 eccentric blended elliptical (four- fin), four-fin square, and three-fin triangular. These experimental test results provide a good comparison of the shape effects on the basic aerodynamics with respect to axial force, normal force, and pitching moment.