Numerical Study of Ram Air Airfoils and Upper Surface Bleed-Air Control
Abstract
Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center has been leading a Modeling and Simulation effort to develop high fidelity simulations of ram-air parachute systems to complement the design and analysis of new and existing airdrop systems. In this paper an unsteady numerical study of two-dimensional, rigid, ram-air sections with an array of upper surface bleed-air actuators is presented. Aerodynamic forces and lift-to-drag ratios of a modified Clark-Y ram-air airfoil are calculated from unsteady Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) simulations, using the Kestrel and Cobalt flow solvers. The flow fields exhibit a complicated cavity flow coupling with the airfoil profile. Variations in the locations and number of bleed air actuators and trailing edge deflection yield time averaged L/D values between 1.24 and 59.14, and strongly support the utility of the bleed air actuators for use as an enhanced lateral/longitudinal control mechanism. Additionally, these initial results emphasize the requirements for prudent mesh generation and the performance of unsteady calculations for ram-air canopy simulations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 16, 2014
- Accession Number
- AD1015118
Entities
People
- Adam Jirasek
- Andrew J. Lofthouse
- Juergen Seidel
- K. Bergeron
- Mehdi Ghoreyshi
- Russell M. Cummings
Organizations
- United States Air Force Academy