NAVIER-STOKES PREDICTION OF AERODYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF A 7.62MM SPIN-STABILIZED PROJECTILE AT SUPERSONIC SPEEDS

Abstract

Accurate prediction of aerodynamic characteristics plays an extremely important role in computing the trajectory of a flying body and analyzing its stability performance. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) has been widely used to predict the aerodynamics of missiles and spinning projectiles. This paper presents the results of numerical determination of aerodynamic characteristics of the 7.62mm M43 projectile at supersonic flight regime with Mach number range from 1.5 to 4.0 at angles of attack varying from 0 . The aerodynamic characteristics of interest are drag, normal force, overturning moment coefficients and the location of the center of pressure. The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with Shear Stress Transport k-ω turbulence model were employed in this study. The numerical simulations were carried out using Ansys Fluent software. A grid independence study was conducted to ensure that the simulation results do not depend on the grid size. The simulation results were initially validated by comparing with available experimental data to make sure that the applied numerical methodology is accurate and reliable. This research has once more confirmed high effectiveness of CFD method in analyzing the supersonic flow around a spinning projectile. The results obtained in this study can be used in trajectory calculation and stability evaluation of M43 projectile, as well as in the process of modifying or designing new firearms for this kind of projectile. The present paper is a significant contribution to better understanding of aerodynamics of the M43 projectile in particular and spinning projectiles and missiles in general. 0 to 6 0