Experimental investigation of vectoring jet on aerodynamic characteristics of aircraft

Thrust vectoring is one of the advanced technologies in the design of the fourth generation fighter to provide high maneuverability and agility. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of the vectoring jet on aerodynamic characteristics of a modern fighter. The tests are conducted in a transonic wind tunnel with a square test section of 0.6 × 0.6 m and a low speed wind tunnel with a 0.8 × 1 m elliptical test section. The test results are obtained at a Mach number of 0.4 or 0.8 and a Reynolds number of 9.5 × 10⁶ or 15.6 × 10⁶ per meter at angles of attack ranging from 0 to 23 deg for a high speed test, and at 45 m/s for a low speed test and Reynolds number of 3 × 10⁶ per meter at angles of attack ranging from 0 to 45 deg. High-pressure air is used to simulate the jet flow, and the nozzle pressure ratio is varied from 1.0 (jet off) to 4. One modern fighter model is employed and divided into two parts of forebody and afterbody for force-measuring, respectively. As a result, the interaction behaviors are obtained.