Fluidic Thrust Vector Control of Aerospace Vehicles: State-of-the-Art Review and Future Prospects

An efficient propulsion system holds the key to the smooth operation of any aerospace vehicle over different flight regimes. Apart from generating the necessary thrust, emphasis has also been laid on vectoring the direction of thrust. The primitive modes of thrust vectoring chiefly focused on mechanical means such as the use of gimbals or hinges. The current state-of-the-art technologies demand more efficient methods for thrust vectoring, which minimize the use of mechanical components. These methods termed fluidic thrust vector control methods, employ secondary jets for achieving the required attitude, and trajectory of the aerospace vehicles such as aircraft, rockets, and missiles. Such methods have greatly helped in reducing vehicle weight, vehicle maintenance requirements, and enhancement of stealth characteristics of such vehicles. This work presents a review of the various fluidic thrust vectoring systems, starting with a brief overview of traditional thrust vectoring systems, followed by a discussion on the various aspects of fluidic thrust vectoring systems. It also highlights the effect of the various geometrical and operating conditions on the performance parameters of the thrust vectoring system such as the thrust vector angle, system thrust ratio, and thrust vectoring efficiency among others. For ensuring the comprehensive character of this work, synthetic jet vectoring techniques have also been included due to their nonmechanical nature and similarities with purely fluidic thrust vectoring techniques.