Design and performance analysis of variable damping paradrogue for an aerial refueling

To break through the restrictions imposed by traditional paradrogue on the speed and altitude of the tanker aircraft, a variable damping paradrogue with aero-elastic structs was designed. The flaky spring deformation and canopy configurations were obtained by fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis, and the trend of paradrogue drag was investigated by computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The hose configuration and the paradrogue draught position were simulated. Results demonstrated that the magnitude of the drag and draught position variation of this design was reduced to 70% and 60% of the traditional type respectively. This design can generate self-adaptive drag, and limit the paradrogue movement, so it is applicable at a broader range of speed and altitude.