Numerical study on strut insertion based thrust vectoring control system
Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology
ISSN: 0002-2667
Article publication date: 15 July 2022
Issue publication date: 6 January 2023
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to numerically study the three-dimensional (3D) flow field characteristics in a conical convergent divergent (CD) nozzle with an internal strut system to describe the effect of struts on producing a side force for thrust vectoring applications.
Design/methodology/approach
Struts are solid bodies. When inserted into the supersonic region of the axisymmetric CD nozzle, it induces a shock wave that causes an asymmetric pressure distribution predominantly over the internal surface of the diverging wall of the C-D nozzle, creating a net side force similar to the secondary injection thrust vectoring control method. Numerical simulations were performed by solving Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier–Stokes equations with re-normalized group k–ϵ turbulence model. Cylindrical struts of various heights positioned at different locations in the divergent section of the nozzle were investigated at a nozzle pressure of 6.61.
Findings
Thrust vectoring angle of approximately 3.8 degrees was obtained using a single cylindrical strut with a dimensionless thrust (%) and total pressure loss of less than 2.36% and 2.67, respectively. It was shown that the thrust deflection direction could also be changed by changing the strut insertion location. A strut located at half of the diverging length produced a higher deflection per unit total pressure loss.
Practical implications
Using a lightweight and high-temperature resistant material, such as a strut, strut insertion-based thrust vectoring control might provide an alternative thrust vectoring method in applications where a longer period of control is needed with a reduced overall system weight.
Originality/value
This study describes the 3D flow field characteristics which result in side force generation by a supersonic nozzle with an internal strut.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the Department of Aerospace Engineering, MIT campus, Anna University, Chromepet for providing the computational facility and licence for the ANSYSCFD solver to carry out the present numerical study. The authors acknowledge the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), New Delhi, India, vide Sanction ACK no. 09/468(540)/2019-EMR-I, for providing financial support to the first author by granting a fellowship during his research work. The authors are thankful to their colleagues in the laboratory for their help during this study.
Citation
Soundararajan, H. and B.T.N., S. (2023), "Numerical study on strut insertion based thrust vectoring control system", Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, Vol. 95 No. 2, pp. 201-213. https://doi.org/10.1108/AEAT-12-2021-0387
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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