To understand the asymmetric flow of a slender body with low-aspect ratio fins, a wind tunnel experiment was carried out, and the asymmetric flow was observed when the pair of fins had a symmetric deflection angle of 30° at a small angle of attack and zero sideslip angle at transonic speeds. The unsteady characteristics of flow around the moving fins, especially for the evolution of the asymmetric flow, was carefully numerically investigated via the RANS method. To verify the numerical method, the experimental steady wind tunnel data of the NACA 0012 airfoil with sinusoidal pitching motion were adopted. A hysteresis loop exists as a function of the deflection angle during the upstroke and downstroke motions. The side force is periodic due to the asymmetric flow peaks at the downstroke and their peak value appeared at around δz = 25°, which was independent of the deflection frequency. As the deflection frequency increased, the asymmetric flow formed at a higher deflection angle during the upstroke motion, but decayed at a lower deflection angle during the downstroke motion, resulting in a more significant unsteady hysteresis effect.

To clarify the influence of the serpentine nozzle configurations on the flow characteristics and aerodynamic performance of aircraft, the flow features and aerodynamic performances of the double-ducted serpentine nozzles with different aspect ratios (AR), length–diameter ratios (LDR) and shielding ratios (SR) are numerically investigated. The results show that the asymmetric nozzle flow occurs due to the curved profile of serpentine nozzles, and a local accelerating effect exists at the S-bend, causing the increase in wall shear stress. The unilateral unsymmetrical expansion of the tail jet in the upward direction interacts with the separated external flow of the afterbody, forming an obvious cross-shock wave and shear layer structure. The surface pressure of the afterbody increases along the external flow direction, and decreases sharply in the separation point of the boundary layer. With the increase in AR and LDR, the local accelerating effect of the nozzle flow weakens, while with the increase in SR, the accelerating effect increases. The total pressure recovery coefficient, flow coefficient and axial thrust coefficient all decrease with the increase in AR, LDR, and SR. The thrust vector angle decreases with the increase in AR but is less affected by LDR and SR.