Abstract
Flow around a guided missile in high maneuver, i.e. at a high angle of attack, shows complex phenomena. It is well known that even in geometrically symmetric conditions the flow around a missile at high angles of attack can generate unexpected large side forces and yaw moments due to asymmetric vortices. In this paper, a CFD code (FLUENT) based on the Navier-Stokes equations was used for the numerical analysis to find a suitable numerical mechanism for generation of asymmetric vortices. It is shown that a numerical technique of applying different surface roughness to a specific area of the missile nose surface gives the best fit in comparison with the experimental results. In addition, a numerical investigation of variations of side forces and pressure distributions with angle of attack and roll angle was conducted for the purpose of identifying the source of vortex asymmetries.