Numerical investigation of force over the horizontal jet tab of various sector angle fixed to the convergent-divergent nozzle exit

Abstract

In this study, a CFD computational model has been established to properly simulate complex correctly expanded supersonic flow generated by a three-dimensional C–D nozzle for the purpose of Thrust Vector Control (TVC) simulations. Jet tabs affixed to the perimeter of the nozzle exit are used to achieve thrust vectoring. This study focuses on the estimation of the force on the tabs due to the jet issued from the C–D nozzle using Ansys 19.2 three-dimensional density based solver, implicit formulation with SST K–ω turbulence model. The force is calculated for different tab configurations based on tab sector angles of 60°, 90°& 120° for the designed Mach number and X/D ratio of 0.7. The nozzles with Mach 1.6, Mach 1.8 and Mach 2.0 designed using SolidWorks are compared. It has been observed that with an increase in sector angle, tab force increased by an average of 70 % for sector angle of 60° to 90° and 36 % for sector angle of 90° to 120°.