Utilizing CFD Coupled 6DOF to Study Separation Induced Tumbling of a Missile Bus Geometry

A previously developed CFD-6DOF environment is utilized to study the effects of separation and initial conditions on the onset of tumbling motion of a missile bus. The missile bus partially stores and separates from the missile geometry. The study comprises both single-body (missile bus only) and two-body (missile and missile bus) simulations. The separation kinetic effects on tumbling motion are examined for both cases. This work will provide the ability to determine separation dynamical effects from two-body aerodynamic interference effects due to geometric proximity on the tumbling motion. The effects on tumbling motion will be quantified using translational and rotational trajectories, aerodynamic coefficients, and developed performance parameters designed to characterize tumbling. The study also finds that initial conditions are necessary to onset the tumbling dynamics for the single-body case. Therefore, the two-body case will be used to further determine if the aerodynamic interference effects are sufficient to onset tumbling behavior in the absence of additional initial conditions. The investigation of two-body aerodynamic interference will enable the creation of representative initial conditions to be applied in future flight testing and CFD-6DOF simulations.