Numerical investigation of subsonic flow over bodies of revolution and a typical missile forebody

Abstract

It was the objective of this investigation to study the subsonic flow over a missile forebody. To this end, the NASA Ames developed OVERFLOW, three dimensional, Navier-Stokes Code was applied and detailed results were obtained for the missile forebody. The flow conditions were set at a Mach Number of 0.3 and Reynolds Number of two million for each angle of attack at 0, 2, 6, 10, and 14 degrees. These viscous flow solutions were compared with three inviscid flow solutions, namely Slender Body Theory, von Karman's Method, and the NASA Ames Panel Code called PMARC. As expected, the OVERFLOW and PMARC solutions were in good agreement at zero and small angles of attack. As the angle of attack was increased, the OVERFLOW solution showed the development of the vortical flow separation on the leeward side of the body.