Integrated analysis of an air-launching rocket maneuvering at high angle of attack

The rocket design requires all aspects of aerodynamics, structure analysis, controllability and other technologies. More sophisticated design and analyses methods are required to enhance design results. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and the Finite Element Method (FEM) are used for the fluid-structure interaction analysis of air-launching rocket. In this study, the aerodynamics-structure coupled analysis procedure for the air-launching rocket is established and is applied to accurately predict the surface pressure and rocket deformation during the pull-up maneuver of the air-launching rocket. Euler equations and FEM are employed for the analyses. For the case considered in this study, convergent solutions are reached within 5 iterations. The rocket thickness case satisfies the structural constraint. The results of analysis presents drag coefficient decrease at convergence process.