Visualization of pressure fluctuation characteristics of weapon bay on unmanned aerial vehicle using delayed detached eddy simulation

Abstract In the present study CFD simulation with delayed detached eddy simulation (DDES) are performed to investigate pressure fluctuation environment on an open cavity and weapon bay of UAV. The main purpose of this study is to explore the aerodynamic noise level of complex cavities with slant ceiling and irregular length–depth ratio. First, two cases on an open cavity at Ma 0.85 are analyzed to determine the slant ceiling influence, which shows that the sound pressure levels increase by 1 dB due to the transverse flow effect. Then, a typical weapon bay on unmanned aerial vehicle is simulated to investigate the aerodynamic noise environment. The overall sound pressure level in the weapon bay is up to 157 dB, and when the Mach number turns from 0.6 to 0.8, the amplitude of all modes increases about 16–23 dB. The main focuses of this investigation are to discuss the mechanism of noise generation in a slant ceiling cavity and determine the pressure fluctuation characteristic of a typical weapon bay on unmanned aerial vehicle. Graphical abstract