Study of wedge-shaped Jet tabs for effective Thrust vector control in Supersonic vehicles

This work explores the thrust vector control in a 2D convergent divergent nozzle with wedge shaped jet tab. The Computational analysis has been carried out with different thickness and height of jet tabs. The flow topology analysis is carried out qualitatively and quantitatively. The wedge-shaped jet tabs with 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% of height and 10 mm, 12 mm, 14 mm, 16 mm thickness are considered for right isosceles, left isosceles and isosceles shapes. The deflection angle is calculated to identify the best effective thrust deflection configuration. Results indicate that, when thickness and height of jet tab increases the deflection angle reduces due to the formation of mixing layer and shock wave generation. Also, depending on the shape of jet tab the oblique shock formation and angle of shock varied. The thickness-based CFD optimization shows that a 4.66° deflection angle with 10 mm thickness and 40% height isosceles tab produces the best deflection. The right jet tab with 12 mm and 14 mm thickness with 30% and 20% height shows 4.75° and 4.14° deflection angle. In the case of 16 mm thickness tab, left isosceles jet tab with 10% height shows 4.14° of deflection angle. It is concluded form the study that, the highest rate of deflection was produced by the right isosceles tab with 12 mm thickness and 30% height. This can be used for thrust deflection in supersonic aircrafts and missiles.