Aerodynamic study of air flow over a curved fin rocket

Abstract

This paper summarizes a study of the aerodynamic characteristics of a curved fin rocket. The study was conducted with the use of semi-empirical method and numerical simulation. The semi-empirical method was implemented with USAF DATCOM as a reference. The ANSYS Fluent was used for the numerical simulation. The curved fin rocket configuration included a conical nose, a cylindrical body, and four curved fins attached symmetrically at the aft body of the rocket. The semiempirical method and numerical simulations were undertaken at various Mach numbers, which were 0.15, 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 for subsonic speed. For supersonic speed, the Mach numbers were 1.2, 1.4 and 2.0. The angle of attack varied from 0° to 25° for each speed, at 5° increments. The compared results included those attained from wind tunnel testing, USAF DATCOM, numerical simulation, and those results gathered from previous researchers. According to the results, each method resulted in the same trend, and followed typical rocket aerodynamic characteristic trends.