A multi-disciplinary computational investigation for the control of vertical tail buffeting of full F/A-18 aircraft using tangential vortical blowing is presented. A high-momentum fluid is injected from the upper surface of the leading-edge extension (LEX) of the wing. The fluid is injected tangential to the LEX surface and parallel to the LEX vortex. The injection is aimed at restructuring the vortical flow of the F/A-18 aircraft in order to produce stronger vortices and alleviate the vertical tail buffeting. This multi-disciplinary problem is solved using four sets of analysis modules. The Reynolds-averaged full Navier-Stokes equation is solved for the aerodynamic flow field. The structure-dynamics response of the vertical tail is solved using direct finite-element anaylysis. The fluid-structure interaction is modeled using conservative/consistent interfacing module. The transfinite interpolation functions are used to deform the computational grid to accomodate the deformed shape of the vertical tail. The F/A-18 configuration model is pitched at an angle of attack of 30° at Mach number of 0.243 and Reynolds number of 11X106. The effects of vortical blowing and blowing strength on the vortical flow and the aeroelastic loading and responses of the vertical tail will be presented.
