In this thesis, the effects of split canard on the aerodynamic characteristics of missiles at high angles of attack are numerically investigated. Moreover, an enhanced semi-empirical engineering-level method is developed for prediction of normal force and pitching moment of split canard mounted missiles. In order to analyze the effects of split canard, a generic test case model is created by mounting a split canard to a generic test case model, NASA Dual Control Missile (NDCM), which was previously modeled and analyzed for the validation of CFD modeling. After obtaining a generic missile model with split canard, the effects of split canard on the aerodynamic characteristics of this missile in case of no control, pitch control, yaw control, and roll control deflections are numerically investigated. It is seen that the split canard decreases the local angle of attack of existing canard, increases the normal force and the maneuverability of the missile, and reduces the induced rolling moment at high angles of attack. Five different aerodynamic design parameters are determined for split canard and the effects of each parameter on missile aerodynamics are numerically investigated. It is seen that the roll orientation, deflection angle, size of the split canards have strong effects on missile&rsquo / s aerodynamic performance whereas longitudinal position of the split canards only affects the pitching moment of the missile. Finally, an enhanced semi-empirical engineering-level method, CFD-CBU, is developed for split canard mounted missiles in order to predict the normal force and the pitching moment coefficients. The developed method is validated with NDCM test case model. After this validation, the method is applied to the split canard mounted generic missile in case of no control deflection and pitch control deflection. The results of this method are compared with CFD results and it is seen that the results are in good agreement with each other.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the general design and analysis principles of sabots and to develop a sabot design tool. Structures which support and align the models in gun bore, and separate without disturbing the flight path of models are called sabots. In the scope of this study, structurally critical regions and loads acting on sabots due to acceleration in the gun are determined. To calculate the loads acting and to size the sabots, approximate relations are derived by the help of strength of materials approach and finite element solutions. Conventional sabots are investigated and new sabot geometries are designed to resist high accelerations. To achieve the desired test velocity without affecting the stability of the model is the main objective. Sabots should be as light as possible, to reach the desired velocity with minimum inertial load, in other words minimum gun chamber pressure. To obtain the less weight sabot geometry with enough strength to resist the loads acting, a computer tool is developed. Structural analyses are automatically performed by the help of the sabot design tool. The advantage of the design tool is to reduce the design engineer&amp / #8217 / s work time spent for routine analyses processes. The output of the tool, which is sabot geometry, should be evaluated as a result of preliminary design process, and can be used as an input for detailed design process. Detailed geometric modifications required for production can be applied on the tool output, and final product can be manufactured reliably and in the shortest possible time.

Designing a suitable utility helicopter cockpit for Turkish pilots is the main theme of this thesis. Helicopter cockpit is one of the ultimate human machine interface application. Consequences of pilot errors during flight in any helicopter cockpit can be catastrophic. Human errors can only be prevented by user-friendly cockpit design. In this thesis, reach compatibilities to controls in the cockpit are evaluated and the suitable positions of analogue indicators at front display panel are examined in order to obtain a user-friendly utility helicopter cockpit design. Human anthropometry is the most significant factor for evaluating cockpit reach compatibilities to controls / so all critical operational reach parameters of Turkish pilots are examined. The anthropometric study revealed vision problems and showed that the height of display panel is inappropriate for most pilots. Suitable positions of the indicators on pedestal are determined by using qualitative and quantitative approaches. As a quantitative approach Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) algorithms are employed. Card sorting methodology is used for the qualitative evaluation of the aforementioned display panel design. Although there are some approaches in literature for designing of displays, a specific design methodology related with the arrangement of indicators on display panel is not offered so far. In this thesis, MCDM and Card sorting approaches are adapted and used in the design of a display panel for the first time. There are lots of similarities between the results of MCDM and Card sorting approaches. The main similarity is to provide separate locations on display panel for engine and flight system indicators. Finally the findings of these techniques are compared with the existing layout of the display panel of a utility helicopter.

In this thesis, design and analyses of honeycomb structures are investigated. Primary goal is to develop an equivalent orthotropic material model that is a good substitute for the actual honeycomb core. By replacing the actual honeycomb structure with the orthotropic model, during the finite element analyses, substantial advantages can be obtained with regard to ease of modeling and model modification, solution time and hardware resources . To figure out the best equivalent model among the approximate analytical models that can be found in the literature, a comparison is made. First sandwich beams with four different honeycomb cores are modeled in detail and these are accepted as reference models. Then a set of equivalent models with the same dimensions is generated. The material properties of the equivalent models are taken from different studies performed in the literature. Both models are analyzed under the same loading and the boundary conditions. In finite element analyses, ANSYS finite element program is used. The results are compared to find out the best performing equivalent model. After three major analyses loops, decision on the equivalent model is made. The differences between the total reaction forces calculated by the equivalent model and the actual honeycomb model are all found to be within 10%. The equivalent model gives stress results at the macro-scale, and the local stresses and the strains can not be determined. Therefore it is deemed that for stress analysis, equivalent model can be used during the preliminary design phase. However, the equivalent model can be used reliably for deflection analysis, modal analysis, stiffness determination and aero-elastic analysis.

Stacking sequence design is a combinatorial problem when the fiber orientations in each layer are restricted to certain angles. In addition, there often exist many optimal or nearoptimal designs for the stacking sequence of a composite pressure vessel under different loading conditions. Genetic algorithms are quite well suited for finding the optimal designs for such a combinatorial problem. In this thesis, a genetic algorithm code is developed in Matlab, optimizing the stacking sequence of a composite pressure vessel subjected to internal and external pressures, axial load and body force due to rotation. For testing of the code and identification of the effects of optimization parameters, a problem, whose optimum solution is obvious, is defined and the optimum design is tried to be found by using the developed code. The results have shown that the code was quite successful in finding the best design. Afterwards, the code is used for the optimization of the stacking sequence of a composite pressure vessel under different loading conditions. Again the code has proven its reliability in finding the optimal designs. The developed genetic algorithm optimization code also has the infrastructure to be easily adapted to the solution of different combinatorial problems.

This study, explores the use of an iterative solution approach for the linearized Euler equations formulated in the frequency domain for fan tone noise propagation and radiation through bypass jets. The aim is to be able to simulate high frequency propagation and radiation phenomena with this code, without excessive computational resources. All computations are performed in parallel using MPI library routines on a computer cluster. The linearized Euler equations support the Kelvin-Helmholtz type convective physical instabilities in jet shear flows. If these equations are solved directly in frequency domain, the unstable modes may be filtered out for the frequencies of interest. However, direct solutions are memory intensive and the reachable frequency is limited. Results provided shown that iterative solution of LEE is more efficient when considered memory requirement and might solve a wider scope of frequencies, if the instabilities are controlled.

In this thesis aeroelastic analysis of a typical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) using MSC&reg / FlightLoads and Dynamics module and MSC&reg / NASTRAN Aero 1 solver was performed. The analyses were carried out at sea level, 1000m, 2000m and 4000m altitudes for Mach Numbers M=0.2, 0.4 and 0.6 for the full model of the UAV. The flutter characteristics of the UAV for different flight conditions were obtained and presented. The effect of altitude on flutter characteristics has been examined and compared with the theoretical and experimental trends in the literature. Also the divergence characteristics of the full model UAV was obtained. In the study, some verification and test cases are also included. The results of the analyses of an untapered swept-wing and AGARD 445.6 wing models were compared with wind tunnel data and a maximum error of 1.3 % in the flutter speed prediction was obtained. In two different wing models the effect of taper was investigated.

In this study structural design, analysis and composite manufacturing applications for a tactical UAV, which was designed and manufactured in Aerospace Engineering Department of Middle East Technical University (METU), is introduced. In order to make an accurate structural analysis, the material and loading is modeled properly. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was used to determine the 3D pressure distribution around the wing and then the nodal forces were exported into the finite element program by means of interpolation from CFD mesh to finite element mesh. Composite materials which are mainly used in METU TUAV are woven fabrics which are wetted with epoxy resin during manufacturing. In order to find the elastic constants of the woven fabric composites, a FORTRAN code is written which utilizes point-wise lamination theory. After the aerodynamic load calculation and material characterization steps, linear static and dynamic analysis of the METU TUAV&rsquo / s wing is performed and approximate torsional divergence speed is calculated based on a simplified approach. Lastly, co-cured composite manufacturing of a multi-cell box structure is explained and a co-cured multi-cell box beam is manufactured.

In this thesis the development of a nonlinear simulation model of a utility helicopter and the design of its automatic flight control system is addressed. In the first part of this thesis, the nonlinear dynamic model for a full size helicopter is developed using the MATLAB/SIMULINK environment. The main rotor (composed of inflow and flapping dynamics parts), tail rotor, fuselage, vertical stabilizer, horizontal stabilizer of the helicopter are modeled in order to obtain the total forces and moments needed for the flight simulation of the helicopter. Total forces and moments are used in 6 degrees of freedom equations of motion model and helicopter states are calculated for the specified flight conditions such as hover and forward flight. Trim and linearization programs are developed. The linearized models of hover and forward flight conditions are used for the automatic flight control system design. Automatic flight control system model consists of necessary systems in order to ease the pilot control of the helicopter. A classical inner stability loop and outer flight directory mode approach is taken to design the automatic flight control system. For the inner stability loop both classical rate feedback and truncated system state feedback control approaches are used. The outer loop modes implemented are heading hold, attitude hold (pitch, roll), altitude acquire and hold mode for hover condition and heading hold, attitude hold (pitch, roll), altitude acquire and hold mode and airspeed hold for forward flight condition. Finally, the success of the controllers are demonstrated through nonlinear simulations for different flight directory modes in hover and forward flight conditions.

Modeling the ionosphere, where the effects of solar dynamo becomes more effective to space based and ground borne activities, has an undeniable importance for telecommunication and navigation purposes. Mid-latitude electron density trough is an interesting phenomenon in characterizing the behavior of the ionosphere, especially during disturbed conditions. Modeling the mid-latitude electron density trough is a very popular research subject which has been studied by several researchers until now. In this work, an operational technique has been developed for a probabilistic space weather forecast using fuzzy modeling and computer based detection of trough in two steps. First step is to detect the appropriate geomagnetical conditions for trough formation, depending on the values of 3-h planetary K index (Kp), magnetic season, latitude and local time, by using fuzzy modeling technique. Once the suitable geomagnetic conditions are detected, second step is to find the lower latitude position (LLP) and minimum position (MP) of the observed trough being two main identifiers of the mid-latitude electron density trough. A number of case studies were performed on ARIEL 4 satellite data, composed of different geomagnetic, annual and diurnal characteristics. The results obtained from fuzzy modeling show that the model is able to detect the appropriate conditions for trough occurrence and the trough shape was effectively identified for each selected case by using the predefined descriptions of mid-latitude electron density trough. The overall results are observed to be promising.