Aerodynamic characteristics of external store configurations at low speeds

Aerodynamic characteristics of external store configurations used on interceptor aircraft were investigated experimentally and computationally. Balance measurements, flow visualization, and static pressure measurements were made in a low-speed wind tunnel. The experimental and computational data revealed the global structure of the flow around a basic configuration. Six groups of models were used in the present study. This article discusses the results for the first and second group of models. The incompressible flow over a limited number of models was computed by solving the Navier-Stokes equations. The solution method is based on the Galerkin finite element discretization of space and the fractional step discretization of time. Reasonably good agreement was observed between the experimental and computational static pressure distributions on a basic geometry. The computational data, which revealed details of reverse flow regions, supported and supplemented the experimental data.