Aerodynamic Characteristics Analysis of Refueling Drogue Under the Influence of Bow Wave Effect Based on Patched Grid Technology

Air refueling technology has become one of the essential guarantees of modern air transportation and combat effectiveness. However, in the docking stage of aerial refueling missions, the drogue and hose often deviate from the original position due to the influence of the bow wave effect of the receiver during air refueling, thus the accuracy of docking of the probe will be significantly affected. In the present work, aerodynamic disturbance around the drogue due to the existence of receiver in size of typical fighter aircraft is studied by the CFD simulation method. In order to balance computational efficiency and accuracy, the surface patched grid technology is employed in the CFD simulation. The influence of the drogue with relative distance angle of attack of the receiver is further analyzed. When the receiver is close enough, disturbance of side and vertical force on the drogue could be at level of 100 N in the selected case. Therefore, study the dynamic response and control method of the drogue under the influence of the bow wave effect is essential.