Study on the Aerothermoelastic Characteristics of a Body Flap Considering the Nozzle–Jet Interference

Abstract

A body flap/RCS-integrated configuration is often used to achieve pitch trimming and controlled flight in near space for hypersonic vehicles. Under the high temperature and pressure load induced by the expansion wave at the nozzle exit, the body flap is prone to significant structural deformation, which leads to a change in the resulting moment, even comparable to the control ability, and bring additional challenges to the control system. Based on the CFD/CTD/CSD coupling method, the aerothermoelastic effect on the aerodynamic characteristics and structural deformation of the body flap under jet interaction is systematically studied. Numerical results indicate that the pitching moment coefficients show an increasing trend for all the models, rigid, elastic and thermoelastic, while the increment significantly decreases with the increase in trajectory altitudes. With the increase in deflection angle, the pitching moment coefficients of the three models decrease nonlinearly at high altitude, and the aerothermoelastic effect significantly decreases. At a middle-lower altitudes, the pitching moment coefficient is reversed at a lager deflection angle, and the trailing edge of the body flap presents the deformation characteristics of upward bending, which makes the aerothermoelastic phenomenon degenerate into an aeroelastic problem. From the station along the chord and spanwise direction, the change in displacement increment of the thermoelastic model reflects the competitive relationship between normal stress and thermal stress imposed by jet interaction.