Experimental and numerical comparison of different missile body cross sectional shapes

View Video Presentation: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2023-0055.vid How body shapes effect the forces produced has been studied for small angle of attack ranges or tapered bodies, but there is little information about how changing cross-section shape of a cylindrical body changes the aerodynamics and performance at supersonic speeds. In order to better understand how cross-section shape impacts both the aerodynamics and the performance of a body in supersonic flight, several different geometries were tested in the United States Air Force Academy's Tri-Sonic Wind Tunnel. These experiments provided forces and moments produced by the missile. In order to better understand the aerodynamic differences driving the changes in performance due to changes in cross section shape, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations were run to match the experimental conditions and provide further information about the flowfield. The experiments indicate that the bodies with the highest width-to-diameter ratio and flatter lower surfaces reach higher lift-to-drag ratios than those with lower width-to-diameter ratios. Of all the geometries tested, the oval shape appears to provide the best performance.