Numerical simulation of the airflow over a military aircraft with active intake

The aim of the study presented herein is to numerically predict the behaviour of the airflow around a flying military aircraft with an active intake in which the airflow may enter and travel all the way up to the aerodynamic interface plane (the analytical interface between the inlet and engine). Computational fluid dynamics is used as the basic tool. The geometry created consists of a full-scale military aircraft exposed to different flight conditions. The flow results are mainly focused at the aerodynamic interface plane since the present study is a part of a greater research effort to estimate how the airflow distortion induced to the engine’s face due to the aircraft’s flight attitude, affects the embedded gas turbine’s performance. The obtained results were validated through a direct comparison against similar experimental ones, collected from a wind tunnel environment.