An integrated computational/experimental approach to X-31 stability & control estimation

A comprehensive research program designed to investigate the ability of computational methods to predict stability and control characteristics of realistic flight vehicles has been undertaken. The approach to simulating static and dynamic stability characteristics for the X-31 configuration was performed by NATO RTO Task Group AVT-161, which resulted in an integrated computational and experimental study. The stability characteristics of the vehicle were evaluated via a highly integrated approach, where CFD and experimental results were used in a parallel and collaborative fashion. The results show that computational methods have made great strides in predicting static and dynamic stability characteristics, but several key issues need to be resolved before efficient, affordable, and reliable predictions are available.