Numerical Investigation of Jet Interaction for Missile with Continuous Type Side Jet Thruster

A continuous type side jet controller which has four nozzles with thrust control devices was considered. It is deployed to a missile for high maneuverability and fast controllability in the terminal guidance phase. However, it causes more complex aerodynamic jet interactions between the side jet and the supersonic free stream than does the conventional impulse type side jet with a small single thruster. In this paper, a numerical investigation of the jet interference effects for the missile equipped with a continuous type side jet thruster is presented. A three-dimensional flow field was simulated by using a commercial unstructured-based CFD solver. The numerical simulation method was validated through comparison with wind tunnel test results for the single jet. The method of defining jet direction for this type of side jet control to minimize simulation cases was also introduced. Flow fields investigation and jet interaction effects for various flow conditions, jet pressure ratios and defined jet direction conditions were performed. From the numerical simulation for the continuous type side jet, extensive aerodynamic interference data were obtained to construct an aerodynamic coefficients database for precise missile control.