An Investigaion of Boattail Geometry and Reynolds Number Effects on Forebody and Afterbody Drag at Transonic Mach Numbers

Abstract

An experimental investigation was conducted in the AEDC 16-foot Transonic Wind Tunnel (16T) to determine both Reynolds number and nozzle afterbody configuration effects on model forebody and afterbody drag. The model was a sting-mounted body of revolution with interchangeable contoured, cylindrical, and 15-deg boattail configurations. Pressure and force data were obtained at Mach numbers from 0.60 to 1.40 and at unit Reynolds numbers from 1, 470,000 per foot to 5,300,000 per foot. The experimental results showed that large variations in afterbody drag levels produced no significant change in forebody drag. The data also revealed that all three configurations exhibited little or no Reynolds number dependence subsonically and that only the 15-deg boattail afterbody was affected by Reynolds number supersonically. It was also demonstrated that data precision and wind tunnel calibration can have a significant effect on model drag and should be given careful consideration.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 01, 1977
Accession Number
ADA035872

Entities

People

  • A. V. Spratley

Organizations

  • Arnold Engineering Development Complex

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Afterbodies
  • Air Force
  • Base Pressure
  • Bodies
  • Boundary Layer
  • Data Reduction
  • Engineering
  • Geometry
  • Instrumentation
  • Measurement
  • Pressure Distribution
  • Pressure Measurement
  • Reynolds Number
  • Static Pressure
  • Test Facilities
  • United States
  • Wind Tunnels

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerodynamics/Aeronautics.

Technology Areas

  • Hypersonics
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Boundary Layers
  • Hypersonics - Hypersonic Flow