EFFECT of projection directions on the Aero-Optical Effect around conformal turrets

This study simulated the aero-optical effect of laser beams with different projection directions around conformal turrets, for both conditions that turret in the aircraft's nose and on the aircraft's back. The aero-optical effect is expressed as the beam quality factor and tilt angle, and the variation of aero-optical effects reflects the variation of the flow field. For the condition that turret on the aircraft's back, and for the forward directions, the absolute value and fluctuation value of the wavefront distortion caused by the aero-optical effect are relatively small. The wavefront distortion statistics and fluctuation values caused by aero-optical effect appear to be minimized at a projection direction of zenith 40 degrees in the forward direction, and the increase of projection radius can result in fast increasing of the mean flow effect while maintaining the turbulent effect almost constant.