Effect of Twin Island Configuration on Airwake Aerodynamics over Generic Aircraft Carrier using CFD

Abstract

The technological advancements have led to the evolution of numerous concepts in an aircraft carrier’s topdeck design, the twin island concept being the latest entrant. An aircraft carrier’s bluff body geometry presents many challenges to the pilot, landing on deck being the most critical. The present study aims to undertake a computational investigation of the aerodynamic analysis of a Twin Island GAC (Generic Aircraft Carrier) conceptualized vis- à-vis its base variant. The flow over the twin island GAC flight deck and downstream is analysed using various transverse planes perpendicular to the flow direction as detailed in the paper. Subsequently, a parametric study was undertaken for understanding the effects of longitudinal translations of the two islands with respect to the baseline GAC position. The results depict the advantage of certain variants of twin islands over a single island, and ~68 % reduction in turbulence is achieved along the glideslope by one of the variations which could aid in reducing pilot workload. The data can act as a catalyst for utilization and incorporation in future floating platform designs and further studies in this field.