SURFACE ROUGHNESS EFFECTS ON SLENDER BODY AERODYNAMICS: A REVIEW FOR SCALED ROCKET APPLICATIONS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11113/jtse.v13.263Keywords:
surface roughness, slender body aerodynamics, scaled rocket, boundary layer transition, drag prediction, equivalent sand-grain roughnessAbstract
Surface roughness on rocket fuselage bodies has long been recognised as a factor in aerodynamic performance, yet how it specifically affects scaled rocket configurations is still not well understood. This paper reviews recent research on surface roughness effects in slender body aerodynamics, with a particular focus on scaled model rockets flying in the subsonic regime. The review covers four key areas: surface roughness characterisation and the equivalent sand-grain roughness; boundary layer transition mechanisms on cylindrical and slender bodies; quantitative drag and stability effects on complete vehicles; and how fuselage roughness influences centre of pressure and downstream flow behaviour. The findings show that roughness effects on slender bodies go well beyond skin-friction drag, modifying vortex asymmetry, control transition location, and alter the wake, all of which have stability implications. Current drag correlations carry ±11% uncertainty, and complete vehicle studies report drag increases of 17–75% for typical manufacturing roughness levels. Despite this body of work, a clear gap remains: no systematic study has isolated fuselage roughness effects on scaled rocket aerodynamic coefficients across a representative subsonic Mach and angle-of-attack envelope. This review lays the theoretical groundwork for such an investigation and highlights the need for design guidelines that connect measured surface finish to predicted aerodynamic behaviour in model rocketry.
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