Fluid-orbit coupling calculation for flight analysis of impulsively driven laser vehicle

Using a fluid-orbit coupling simulator, we numerically solve the three-dimensional Navier-Stokes equations with exchanging information of six-degree-of-freedom reactions for predicting impulsive flight motions of a laser propulsion vehicle driven by blast waves. By feedback of angular and translational velocities into the flowfield, pressure and viscous drags induced by the unsteady vehicle motion are introduced to provide precise motion analysis. In the impulsive-motion estimation of the laser-boosted vehicle, restoring forces and moments are underestimated if the vehicle motion effect is modeled using aerodynamic coefficients of steady flow. Also, a simple model using impulse data examined by experiments for predicting the impulsive motion is compared with our coupling approach which can reproduce instantaneous acceleration resulting from the interaction between the vehicle and the blast wave. Velocity overshoot is generated by evaluating sharp thrust through the coupling calculation, and the flight height becomes 6% larger than conventional prediction using the impulse data.