STORE SEPARATION ANALYSIS USING COMPUTATIONAL

FLUID DYNAMICS
1
RADHA KRISHNAN PRASHANTH, 2MAHESH M SUCHEENDRAN
1,2
Defence Institute of Advanced Technology, Defence Institute of Advanced Technology

Abstract- Store is any device that is carried internally or externally on an aircraft in its suspension equipment or
in its bays. Store includes bombs, rockets, fuel tanks etc. and can be released for an operational requirement or
during an emergency. It is important to analyze how the store behaves when released from its parent aircraft. The
store should separate safely from the aircraft without striking back the parent aircraft. The way the store behaves
when separated from the aircraft depends upon the store inertial properties and aerodynamic forces acting on the
store when it traverses the flow field below the aircraft. In this paper, separation of a bomb from a fighter aircraft
is analyzed by computational fluid dynamics. The procedure adapted to assemble the model and flow domain, the
method to generate the computational grid and the flow solution methodology is discussed. The results of the
analysis discusses the center of gravity position and orientation of the bomb at various interval of time.

Index Terms-CFD, numerical simulation, store separation.

I. INTRODUCTION II. PROBLEM DEFINITION AND SOLUTION

Any store before being integrated with an aircraft is
subjected to compatibility checks such as structural
analysis, electromagnetic interference checks,
stability and control, ballistics and separation analysis.
The store separation analysis is considered to be the
most critical from the flight safety point of view [1].
The flow field around an aircraft-store configuration
in flight is disturbed as compared to the free flight
conditions. The store when released has to pass
through this disturbed flowfield before entering the
zone of free stream conditions. It is critical to analyze
the behavior of the store in the disturbed flow field
because the likelihood of the store striking the aircraft
exits in this zone.
The behavior of the store immediately after release
and its subsequent trajectory and orientation can be
analyzed analytically, numerically and experimentally
[2]. Once the store is ascertained as safe; it is subjected
to flight tests before being integrated to the aircraft for
operational use.
Analytical methods are linear methods and are limited
to inviscid incompressible problems. Experimental
methods such as wind tunnel testing is time
consuming and require huge resources. With the ever
increasing performance of computers, store separation
analysis by numerical method such as Computational
Fluid Dynamics (CFD) is practical in terms of time
and resources. Store separation analysis by CFD is
being carried out either by using the Navier Stokes or
the Eulers equation. Use of Navier Stokes equation
would require large computer resources as compared
to the Eulers.
METHODOLOGY
The problem is store separation study from a clipped
wing , with the flow assumed to be compressible and
inviscid. The separation analysis is carried out using a
number of software’s and the solution methodology
is:-
(a) Geometry modelling, cleaning and assembly
using Gambit
(b) Computational grid generation for Euler
computation using Gambit
(c) Continuity, Momentum and Energy equations
are solved simultaneously. Since these governing
equations are coupled and nonlinear, the solution is
achieved iteratively and by setting a residual value for
acceptance of convergence. Flow solver using Euler
equation is carried out by Ansys Fluent to get the flow
solution.
A. Geometry modelling, cleaning and assembly [2]
To make the geometry of the store and clipped wing
mesh worthy; the model were cleaned by deleting
duplicate faces. Also the auto heal function of Gambit
was used to stitch faces with gaps. Once the geometry
was cleaned the model was ready to be meshed.
A brick volume is modelled as the main domain. The
dimensions taken as the ratio of root chord length are
as follows:-
_ 3.5 times in flow direction ahead of leading edge
_ 6.5 times in flow direction aft of trailing edge
_ 10 times along span, with the root of the wing
coplanar with the domain face which will be the
symmetry plane
_ 5 times top and bottom of wing

Proceedings of IRF International Conference, 30th March-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-82702-69-6
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 Store Separation Analysis using Computational Fluid Dynamics
The store CG is aligned at the origin of the coordinate
system. The wing volume is translated to align with
the store model such that the lug positions of the pylon
and store match. Fig (1) shows the wing-store
configuration after assembly and alignment with
coordinate system.
Fig (1): Wing-Store configuration assembled and aligned with
coordinate system
A domain around the store is modelled and named as
bomb domain. The wing volume is deleted from flow
domain and the store volume is deleted from bomb
domain. The flow domain and bomb domain volume is
split.
B. Computational grid generation
Computational grid generation of the geometry is
carried out in Gambit. The mesh quality was
iteratively improved by varying the grading type, ratio
and interval count for the edge meshing with the aim
of having a low skewness. Also sizing function was
used on faces with small dimensions. Surface meshing
was carried out with triangular elements by the pave
method and volume meshing by tetrahedral/hybrid
elements by T grid method. It was ensured that no
degenerative elements were formed in the mesh and
the skewness range was also within limits in the one
million grid elements. Fig (2) shows a surface meshed
wing-store configuration on the symmetry face. In the
figure it can be seen that the mesh is fine close to the
wing-store configuration and gets coarser as the
distance from the configuration increases.
Fig (2): Wing-store configuration surface meshed with tri
elements
The solver is selected as Fluent 5/6 and the boundary
zones are defined for various faces considering that
the flow is taken as compressible and inviscid. The
wing and store is defined as wall, the domain face
coplanar with wing root face is taken as symmetry, the
face where the flow leaves the domain as pressure
Proceedings of IRF International Conference, 30th March-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-82702-69-6
79
outlet and rest of the domain faces as pressure farfield
where free stream conditions exist. The mesh is then
exported to Ansys Fluent for analysis.
C. Flow Solution
The problem considers the flow around a store
attached to the clipped delta wing of the aircraft. The
flow is three dimensional and is taken as compressible
and assumed to be inviscid by using the Euler’s
equation for flow calculations.
The store is analyzed in the starboard wing and the
sign convention used for the CFD simulations and
experiments is as below:-
-Xcg is Centre of gravity (CG) position of store in
X-Axis and is positive when Store moves ahead in
direction of motion of aircraft at release
-Ycg is CG position of store in Y-Axis and is positive
when store yaws out board(right)
-Zcg is CG position of store in Z-Axis and is positive
when the store moves downward after release
- X'cg is linear velocity in X-Axis and is positive when
the store velocity increases in direction of motion of
aircraft on release
-Y'cg is linear velocity in Y-Axis and is positive when
the store velocity increases in direction to inboard of
aircraft and the store yaws inboard
-Z'cg is linear velocity in Z-Axis and is positive when
the store velocity increases in downward direction
- Φ is the Euler angle and is positive when Store rolls;
bringing its right wing down
-θ is the Euler angle and is positive when the store
pitches up
-Ψ is the Euler angle and is positive when the Store
yaws; bringing its nose to the right
- Φ', θ ' and Ψ ' are the angular rates and has the same
sign convention as the Euler angles.
D. Steady Solution [4]
The mesh file is imported to Ansys Fluent and the
mesh is checked for quality. No negative volume was
found. Since the computational grid was made in
millimeters in Gambit, the grid is scaled to meters in
Ansys Fluent. A density based solver is selected and
the Energy equation enabled. The flow is set to
invicid. The farfield has free stream conditions and
hence the free stream value of Mach number, pressure,
temperature and density at the instance and altitude of
release is taken as boundary condition. The outflow
boundary condition is set by specifying the
temperature and the acceptable backflow values. With
pressure farfield defined in boundary condition, the
density calculated in the flow solver is by ideal gas law
and hence the density of fluid is set to ideal gas in
materials. The gauge pressure is set to zero so that
absolute and operating pressure are same. Gravity is
enabled and hence acceleration in z direction (Positive
downwards) is set to 9:807m/s2. First order upwind
scheme is selected for the solution method.
 Store Separation Analysis using Computational Fluid Dynamics

The reference values of area and length specific to the -Enable a pressure gradient method of grid adaption
store is fed into the solver. Reference area is calculated -For explicit schemes the time step taken should be
by taking the cross sectional area of the bomb at less than the ratio of smallest cell size to the velocity.
maximum diameter. Other reference values such as Since an implicit method is used time stepping do not
density, pressure and temperature were computed affect the stability of the solution. It is to be ensured
from the farfield. Solution monitors of store that for each time step taken the solution should
coefficient of drag and lift are defined. The steady converge within the iteration specified. The coherent
calculations are done after initialization. The number has an effect on this criteria. Therefore time
initialization is done by taking values from the steps of 400 and time step size of 0:002secs is taken.
farfield. Also a full multi grid initialization is carried Hence calculations for 0:8 sec after release of store
out which would help convergence. Calculations are would be carried out.
carried out with Courant number varying from 0.05
for every 250 iterations till the coefficient of drag and III. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
lift of the store flattened.
The store is analyzed at a release altitude of 4 Km and
E. Transient Solution [5] Mach number 0.95. The pressure and temperature is
Since the problem to be solved involves motion of obtained from International Standard Atmosphere
domain boundary as the store separates from the table for the release altitude and is fed as boundary
aircraft, the shape of the domain would change with conditions. The release of the store is at level flight.
respect to time. For such cases dynamic mesh model of
Fluent is used. In this model the new position of the
mesh can be determined by the 6 Degree Of Freedom
(DOF) solver which is inbuilt in Fluent. The motion of
the mesh can be prescribed by specifying the linear
and angular velocity about the CG of the solid body
with time. The 6 DOF solver of fluent calculates each
position of the volume mesh by carrying out the force
calculation at each time step. Spring based
smoothening and remeshing methods are used to
update the volume mesh in the deforming regions [5].
The description of motion is provided to the six DOF
solver by a user defined function (UDF).
Fig (3): Coefficient of drag of bomb at carriage vs iterations

UDF [6] is a C program that can be dynamically

The coefficient of lift (Cl) and coefficient of drag (Cd)
loaded with Fluent. It is used to define and pass the
of the store at carriage position was monitored. The Cl
mass and inertial properties of the store and the ejector
and Cd monitors flattened out after 6000 iterations
forces and moments to the six DOF solver. A script
during steady calculations as shown in Fig (3). There
called make file is used to invoke the system C
was no change in these monitors in the 2nd decimal
compiler to build an object code library that contains
values for the next 500 iterations and therefore the
the native machine language translation of high level
steady solution was taken as being obtained. The Cd vs
C source code. The process of compiling a UDF
iterations plot is illustrated in Fig (3) and a Cd value of
involves compile, build and load.
0.2525 is obtained. Similarly the Cl value obtained
was 0.268.
The solution setup for the problem is as follows
-Transient in the solution setup is selected
-Dynamic mesh and six DOF is enabled. Smoothing
and remeshing is selected.
-Select size function as 1. This function controls the
size of the interior cell with respect to the boundary
cells that are nearest to it.
-Set the size function rate as 0.7. This sets the
variation of cell size from boundary.
-Set up the moving zones as store. Switch on the six
DOF option and select the UDF
-Set courant number depending on the time step taken
and the number of iterations per time step specified. In
this case it is taken as 1.5
-Autosave case and data every 100 time steps. Fig (4): Contours of pressure coefficient

Proceedings of IRF International Conference, 30th March-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-82702-69-6
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 Store Separation Analysis using Computational Fluid Dynamics
The contours of pressure coefficient (Cp) is illustrated
in Fig (4). It is seen from the contours that the
maximum value of Cp is at the nose of the store and at
this position the value of Mach number is minimum.
The position of minimum Cp and static pressure is at
the trailing edge of the pylon and at this position the
value of Mach number is maximum.
Fig (5) CG location of bomb after release at 4KM-0.95M
Fig (5) and (6) shows the plots of CG position and
orientation of the store at various instances of time. It
can be seen in the plots of Fig (5) and (6) that the store
moves laterally inboard with a negative yaw.
Fig (6) CG angular orientation of bomb after release
at 4 KM-0.95 M
The store has a negative roll which can be attributed to
the combined effect of negative yaw and pitch down
with a inboard lateral velocity. The store attitude
changes from pitch down sense to level position at
0:55 sec and this is the time when the roll rate attains
the peak and subsequently reduces.
Fig (7) to Fig(9) shows the position of store at 0.3, 0.5
and 0.8 sec of time after release. In Fig (7) it is seen
that as soon as the store is released it pitches down due
to a pitch down moment that exists in carriage
position [7]. This pitching moment is damped and the
store is level at about 0:55sec. The store after 0:55sec
shows a tendency of pitch up as seen in Fig (8).
Fig (7): Store position at 0.3 sec
Proceedings of IRF International Conference, 30th March-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-82702-69-6
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Fig (8): Store position at 0.55 sec
Fig (9): Store position at 0.8 sec
Since the model of the 500 Kg GP bomb is analyzed
without the fuse, the restoring moment produced by
the fins is not sufficient to counter act the lift produced
by the streamlined nose. With the addition of fuse the
flow would spoil at the nose as the fuse is not
streamlined and there would be reduction in lift. Also
the weight of the fuse would shift the CG to the front
and the moment arm of the restoring force of the fuse
would increase. With these two factors, it is expected
that the stabilizing pitch down moment would be more
and the effect of the fins is expected to be felt earlier in
case the bomb is analyzed with the fuse.
IV. VERIFICATION AND VALIDATION OF
RESULTS
There was no experimental data available for the
aircraft - store configuration which was simulated.
Therefore for verification and validation of the results
iterative convergence, solution stability check, grid
independent check and domain independent check
was carried out at a release condition of 2.5 Km and
0.9 Mach number [8].
The iterative convergence of steady solution was
established by monitoring the coefficient of lift and
drag till the values took an asymptotic value as shown
in Fig (3). For solution consistency check, the mass
flux into the far field and the mass flux out of the
outflow face was found. The net difference in mass
flux in and out was calculated and found to be
negligible and is given below.
Mass flux in (Farfield face) = 711464:31
Mass flux out (Outflow) = -711465:13 ()
Net Imbalance = -0:8125
Imbalance percentage = 1:14 x10-4
For grid independent and domain independent check,
steady calculations were carried out with different grid
density (Nominal, course and fine mesh) and domain
 Store Separation Analysis using Computational Fluid Dynamics

size (Bigger domain in flow direction). The values of CONCLUSION

Cd and Cl obtained with different density grid and
domain are compared with the results of the nominal It can be seen from the simulation results that there
grid-nominal domain case and are tabulated in Table exists a strong pitching moment on the store in
(1). carriage position. This warrants use of an ejector
Table: 1: Values of Cd and Cl from Nominal piston to reduce this moment on release or else there is
grid-nominal domain compared with different grid a likelihood of the bomb tail striking the aircraft
density and domain immediately on release. The simulation results satisfy
Cd Difference Cl Difference various convergence criteria and also solution
Percentag consistency checks and hence can provide a valuable
Percentag e input to design the ejector force. Also the store
e orientation and positions as discussed in the results
Nomina 0.13 NA 0.28 NA
indicates that the bomb separates safely at a release
l Grid-
Nomina
Mach number of 0.95 and altitude of 4 Km.
l
Domain REFERENCES
Coarse 0.117 9.6 0.266 4.8
Grid- 5 5 [1] R Arnold and C Epstein, “Store separation flight testing,”
Advisory group for aerospace research and development,
Nomina AG-300-Vol.5, 1986.
l
Domain [2] L. H. Schindel, “Store separation,” Advisory Group for
Aerospace Research and development, AGARD-AG-202,
Fine 0.125 3.8 0.278 0.71
1975.
Grid-
Nomina [3] Fluent inc., ``Gambit tutorial guide”, 2000
l [4] Fluent inc.,``Ansys Fluent Tutorial for dynamic meshing
Domain problems,"
Nomina 0.125 3.8 0.275 1.75
[5] Fluent inc.,``Fluent 6.3 users guide," 2006
l Grid-
Bigger [6] Fluent inc.,``Ansys Fluent UDF manual," 2011
Domain [7] Lawrence E. Lijewski and Norman E. Suhs, "Time-Accurate
Computational Fluid Dynamics Approach to Transonic Store
The comparison in table(1) shows as the grid density Separation Trajectory Prediction," Journal of aircraft, vol. 31,
no. 4, pp. 886 -891, 1994.
is increased from course to fine the solution of Cd and
Cl has minor changes in values with the maximum [8] Tutorial on CFD verification and validation," NPARC alliance
Computational Fluid Dynamics verification and validation
difference of 9.6% for Cd in case of course mesh. With website, www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/wind/valid/tutorial.
a bigger domain the percentage difference is
maximum for Cd at 3.8%.

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Proceedings of IRF International Conference, 30th March-2014, Pune, India, ISBN: 978-93-82702-69-6
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