Computation of Forces on a Rotating WindSat Reflector

Abstract

The flow over the rotating WindSat reflector is computed. The primary aim of this effort is to compute the lifting force that is normal to the reflector and the moments it produces about the center of the rotating system. This force and the moments produced cannot be compensated otherwise. The unstructured mesh-based flow solver FEFLO is used to compute this flow in the frame of reference rotating with the reflector. The flow solver is first validated against test problems with known analytical solutions. FEFLO is then applied to compute the flow over the reflector. Effects of presence of the trusses supporting the reflector are also studied. The results obtained will serve to provide an upper bound on the forces that will be experienced by the rotating system, and therefore in the calculation of the jitter angle of the WindSat reflector.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 20, 2002
Accession Number
ADA544311

Entities

People

  • Ravi Ramamurti

Organizations

  • United States Naval Research Laboratory

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Air Platforms

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Boundary Layer
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics
  • Computational Science
  • Computations
  • Convergence
  • Differential Equations
  • Equations
  • Flow
  • Geometry
  • Incompressible Flow
  • Inviscid Flow
  • Navier Stokes Equations
  • Pressure Distribution
  • Pressure Gradients
  • Simulations
  • Turbulent Flow
  • Viscous Flow

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Aerodynamics.
  • Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
  • Phased Array Antenna Design.