SIMULATION AND ANALYSIS OF MULTIPLE-BODY DISPENSE EVENT

A ballistic test of a configuration consisting of a parent dispenser vehicle and 24 dart submunitions was simulated using the OVERFLOW-D flow solver . The test was conducted by the Naval Surface Weapons Center, Indian Head Division, on a candidate configuration designed for beach mine clearance operations. The configuration was fired at a target witness panel at Mach 1.9 at sea level conditions. Initially, the dispenser and darts spin about the longitudinal axis of the parent vehicle as a solid body. At a specified time, the darts are released and travel under the influence of kinematic and aerodynamic forces. The simulation was conducted to address the following issues:  The relative importance of kinematics vs. aerodynamics during the dispense event  The identification of simplifying assumptions that can be incorporated into engineering level methods (ELM) with a high degree of confidence  The likelihood of collisions during the dispense event, either between the darts, or between the darts and parent vehicle  The dispersal pattern, and the orientation of the darts subsequent to release  The effect of angle of attack on the dispersal pattern and dart orientation