Accession Number:

AD1041870

Title:

CFD Analysis of a Maneuvering F/A-18E Super Hornet

Descriptive Note:

Technical Report

Corporate Author:

Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division Patuxent River United States

Personal Author(s):

• Green, Bradford E.
• Findlay,David B.

Report Date:

2016-10-12

Pagination or Media Count:

60.0

Abstract:

The goal of the current study was to determine if computational fluid dynamics is capable of accurately predicting the forces and moments on the FA-18E Super Hornet while performing several complicated maneuvers. Past FA-18E computational studies have mainly focused on static wind-tunnel scale calculations with the results being compared to existing wind-tunnel data. In recent years, some pitching calculations were conducted at wind-tunnel scale to increase the throughput of the computational results. Furthermore, recent improvements in the tools and methods allow for moving vehicles with arbitrary motions of surfaces. These enabling capabilities and successful calculations increased confidence that actual maneuvers could be evaluated at full-scale. During this study, several FA-18E maneuvers were evaluated. The calculations for this study were conducted at full-scale and the results were compared to data from flight tests and the FA-18E validated flight simulation database.

Descriptors:

• computational fluid dynamics
• aircrafts
• fighter aircraft
• test and evaluation
• flight simulations
• Flight maneuvers

Subject Categories:

• Fluid Mechanics
• Military Aircraft Operations

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE