Experimental study lift-characteristics of models for two-block combinations of aircraft with the location of external boosters on horizontal or vertical symmetry planes

Currently, the world’s leading space corporations often turn to two-block launch vehicle configurations. However, engineering methods for calculating the aerodynamic characteristics of such launch vehicle are virtually nonexistent. In this regard, the study of the lift characteristics of models of two-block configurations with two external blocks located in the horizontal or vertical planes of symmetry of the configuration can be considered a pressing problem of modern aerodynamics of launch vehicles. In this work, an experimental method was used to measure the normal forces acting on models of two-block launch vehicle, depending on the main determining parameter: the ratio of the diameter of the outer block to the diameter of the main body in the range [0; 1.2]. A new scheme of measurements by the strain gauge method was proposed, on the basis of which the interference coefficients were obtained. The main idea of this work is that, based on the obtained dependencies of the interference coefficients on the relative diameter of the external blocks and the derivatives of the normal force coefficients by the angle of attack of isolated bodies, it is possible to calculate the derivatives of the normal force coefficients by the angle of attack of the combination as a whole. It was established that the lift characteristics of two-boosters combinations, made according to schemes with horizontal and vertical arrangement in the symmetry planes, differ significantly from each other.