Numerical Study on a Supersonic Flow around a Bullet

Abstract

In this research paper, a numerical analysis in Computational Fluid Dynamics uses the Finite Volume Method to visualize the external flow characteristics over a bullet speeding at Mach 2.0. The simulation results evaluate the experimental drag coefficient of the supersonic bullet airflow in a wind tunnel. The numerical simulation assumes that the inviscid model remains non-rotating. The generation of the mesh geometry varies between Coarse, Medium, and Fine types, and proper selection of the grid density improves the accuracy of the numerical result. The Fine Quadrilaterals mesh of 150,000 elements achieved considerable punctuality along with the numerical method of the second-order linear differential equations. The drag coefficient value of 0.222 gives a 0.9 percent error relative to the attained experiment value. The Mach number, pressure ratio, and flow simulation velocity contours obtained with ANSYS FLUENT software represent the validation of the experimental data with numerical analysis method in a typical fluid mechanics problem.