Studies on Aerodynamic Behavior and Performance of Aerospike Nozzles

Experimental and numerical studies are carried out on a 6-cell tile-shaped aerospike nozzle, a 6-cell aerospike nozzle with round-to-rectangle primary nozzles and a 1-cell linear aerospike nozzle. Good altitude compensation capacities and high efficiencies are obtained in the tests. The efficiencies of 6-cell tile-shaped aerospike nozzle and 1-cell linear aerospike nozzle at design altitude approach to 100 %, and that of 6-cell aerospike nozzle with round-to-rectangle primary nozzles in the same condition is about 95 % due to the imperfect cell contour and manufacturing defects. Numerical results are in good agreements with test data. The effects of ambient pressure on exhaust and then on base behavior are analyzed, The effects of variation in the amount of base bleed on performance are also examined in the tests.

Numerical investigation of flow separation behavior in an over-expanded annular conical aerospike nozzle

A three-part numerical investigation has been conducted in order to identify the flow separation behavior––the progression of the shock structure, the flow separation pattern with an increase in the nozzle pressure ratio（NPR）, the prediction of the separation data on the nozzle wall,and the influence of the gas density effect on the flow separation behavior are included.The computational results reveal that the annular conical aerospike nozzle is dominated by shock/shock and shock/boundary layer interactions at all calculated NPRs, and the shock physics and associated flow separation behavior are quite complex.An abnormal flow separation behavior as well as a transition process from no flow separation at highly over-expanded conditions to a restricted shock separation and finally to a free shock separation even at the deign condition can be observed.The complex shock physics has further influence on the separation data on both the spike and cowl walls, and separation criteria suggested by literatures developed from separation data in conical or bell-type rocket nozzles fail at the prediction of flow separation behavior in the present asymmetric supersonic nozzle.Correlation of flow separation with the gas density is distinct for highly overexpanded conditions.Decreasing the gas density or reducing mass flow results in a smaller adverse pressure gradient across the separation shock or a weaker shock system, and this is strongly coupled with the flow separation behavior.The computational results agree well with the experimental data in both shock physics and static wall pressure distribution at the specific NPRs, indicating that the computational methodology here is advisable to accurately predict the flow physics.

Computational Study of Performance Characteristics for Truncated Conical Aerospike Nozzles

Aerospike nozzles are advanced rocket nozzles that can maintain its aerodynamic efficiency over a wide range of altitudes. It belongs to class of altitude compensating nozzles. A vehicle with an aerospike nozzle uses less fuel at low altitudes due to its altitude adaptability, where most missions have the greatest need for thrust. Aerospike nozzles are better suited to Single Stage to Orbit （SSTO） missions compared to conventional nozzles. In the cur- rent study, the flow through 20% and 40% aerospike nozzle is analyzed in detail using computational fluid dy- namics technique. Steady state analysis with implicit formulation is carried out. Reynolds averaged Navier-Stokes equations are solved with the Spalart-AUmaras turbulence model. The results are compared with experimental results from previous work. The transition from open wake to closed wake happens in lower Nozzle Pressure Ratio for 20% as compared to 40% aerospike nozzle.

A survey on numerical simulations of drag and heat reduction mechanism in supersonic/hypersonic flows

Along with the survey on experimental investigations drawing attention to the drag and heat reduction mechanism, the authors simultaneously focus on the recent advances of numerical simulations on the schemes applied to supersonic/hypersonic vehicles. The CFD study has evolved as an irreplaceable method in scheme evaluation and aircraft optimization. Similar to our previous experimental survey, the advances in drag and heat reduction schemes are reviewed by similar kinds of mechanism in this article, namely the forward-facing cavity, the opposing jet, the aerospike, the energy deposition and their combinational configurations. This review article puts an emphatic eye on the flow conditions, numerical methods, novel schemes and analytical conclusions given in the simulations. Further, the multi-objective design optimization concept has also been illustrated due to the observable advantages of using CFD over experimental method, especially those performances conducted in drag reduction and thermal protection practice, and this would possess reference value in the design of aircraft system.

Computational study on flow through truncated conical plug nozzle with base bleed

Conical plug nozzle and truncated conical plug nozzle are advanced rocket nozzles suitable for use as altitude compensating nozzles.In this study flow through the conical plug and truncated conical plug nozzles are numerically simulated to first validate with experimental data and then to compare the performance when a base bleed is introduced.The numerical analysis has considered two-dimensional axisymmetric models.Reynolds-averaged NavierStokes equations are solved with two equation shear stress transport k-ω turbulence model.For the validation of the plug nozzle,flow features and wall pressure along the length of the nozzle is taken for different nozzle pressure ratios.For the validation of truncated plug nozzle,flow features and base pressures at various nozzle pressure ratios are compared.The base bleed is taken as 2%of the inlet mass flow rate.The comparison of results shows that the introduction of base bleed helps to compensate for the loss of thrust due to conical plug nozzle truncation.