Computational studies on Aerospike Nozzles

Computational and Experimental studies
on Aerospike Nozzles
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) missions demand its engines to be operated at varying back
pressure conditions as it has to operate from ground to vacuum. Generally engines operating at
high combustion chamber pressures (more than 100bar) with moderate area ratios (AR 70~80)
are used for this purpose, as this ensures that the nozzle flows full during lift off and the
atmospheric flight.
Conventional bell nozzle with fixed area ratio works efficiently at a particular altitude where exit
pressure exactly matches with the back (ambient) pressure causing exhaust to perfectly expanded
thereby maximizing efficiency and thrust. At lower altitude where ambient pressure is higher
than the exhaust pressure, the ambient air pushes the exhaust air inward which causes the
separation of flow from the boundary of nozzle wall thereby decreasing thrust and efficiency.
This condition is also known as overexpansion. At higher altitude where ambient pressure is
lower than the exit pressure which is known as underexpansion. Ambient air causes exhaust to
flow past the nozzle exit. Since the additional expansion occurs outside of the nozzle, it does not
exert thrust on the nozzle, so that thrust is lost.
Figure 1: Overexpanded and Underexpandednozzle [1]
IIST Thiruvananthapuram
2011
Page: 1

Since, both overexpansion and underexpansion reduce overall engine efficiency and thrust, for
maximizing thrust and efficiency, the concept of an ideal nozzle has been contemplated [2].Ideal
nozzle increases its exit area ratio such that exit pressure exactly matches with ambient pressure
as rocket ascends.Thus an ideal nozzle would be able to continually adjust its area ratio to
maximize thrust at each altitude, known as altitude compensation. Practically it is not possible to
design a bell nozzle which changes its geometry during the flight. Aero-spike nozzle is the other
option where the flow is adapted to the ambient conditions at all altitudes, by virtue of the nozzle
configuration as this provides the altitude compensation at least in theory.
The aero-spike nozzle is a truncated spike (or plug nozzle) that adapts to the ambient conditions
so that it ensures that the exhaust jet flows full during most part of the operational regimes by
optimal expansion at each altitude. At high altitudes, the nozzle flow leaving the truncated spike
creates a closed wake, called an aerodynamic spike
[2]
. When the wake is closed, the base
pressure and the contribution of the base region to the aero-spike thrust are independent of
altitude and which is desirable in altitude compensation.
Figure 2: Schematic of flow in Aerospikenozzle[3]
At low altitudes high ambient pressure forces the exhaustplume inward increasing the pressure
on the Aerospike nozzle contour and thethrust. At design pressurethe flow becomes column
shaped, much like a bell nozzle. As the rocket climbs to higher altitudes, the air pressure holding
the exhaust against the spike decreases, but the pressure on top of the engine decreases at the
same time. Howeverthe recirculation zone keeps the pressure on the base up to fraction of 1 bar,
2011
Page: 2

a pressure that is not balanced by the near vacuum on top of the engine; this difference in
pressure gives extra thrust at altitude, contributing to the altitude compensating effect. This
produces an effect like that of a bell that grows larger as air pressure falls, providing altitude
compensation. Thus in theory at least, the aerospike nozzle meets or exceeds the performance of
the bell nozzle at all operating pressures [4].The altitudecompensation feature and thrust vector
control is provided under minimum requirements for geometric variations and no gimbaling of
the nozzle and are the main discriminating features of the Aerospikeengine.It also fits well into
trailing edge of a winged or lifting type vehicle and often has less engine and structural mass.
However, the realization of aerospike nozzle faces many hurdles due to its aerodynamic and
structural design considerations. To contain the extreme heating loads on the annular throat and
nozzle, a combination of regenerative cooling, film cooling and dump cooling using hydrogen
has to be employed. Also the thrust prediction remains a challenge as the nozzle plume shapes
vary with the back pressure conditions where the conventional thrust equations fail to predict the
thrust. Performance validation is not yet done, although experiments are being done around the
world.
Experiments and studies on Aerospike engine were started in US in early 1960 but thrust
achieved by Aerospike engine was roughly equal to the bell nozzle. In 1990 Aerospike engine is
considered as potential engine for NASA's X-33project. The X-33 was a technology
demonstrator for the VentureStar orbital spaceplane, which was planned to be a next-generation,
commercially-operated vehicle. After more development and considerable testing, this project
was cancelled when the X-33's composite fuel tanks repeatedly failed [5].
Although the cancelling of the X-33 program was a setback for aerospike engineering, however
milestone was achieved when a joint academic/industry team from California State University
and Garvey Spacecraft Corporation successfully conducted a flight test of a liquid-propellant
powered aerospike engine in the Mojave Desert on September 20, 2003. CSULB students had
developed their Prospector 2 rocket using a 14.4 kN LOX/ethanol aerospike engine. This work
on aerospike engines is on-going; Prospector-10, a ten-chamber aerospike engine, was test-fired
June 25, 2008.[6]
2011
Page: 3

1.2 Motivation
Though the aero-spike nozzle has many advantages other than the altitude compensation, such as
uniform load distribution, simple gas dynamic configuration, and flexible structure
combinations, however, the implementation of aero-spike nozzle in aeronautics or astronautics
faces many technical difficulties. For example, a linear aero-spike whose plug centre-body,
which is a large curved surface creates problems of being high load bearing surfaces and often
need to be reinforced. Moreover, due to extreme heating loads on the nozzle it has to be cooled
effectively using a combination of regenerative cooling, film cooling and dump cooling using
hydrogen, and also proper positioning of the hardware needs to be ensured.
Another aspect on the aerodynamic design of the aero-spike nozzle is the estimation of the thrust
generated by these nozzles. To get the highest benefit in terms of thrust with this nozzle concept,
the design pressure ratio and, thus, the geometrical area ratio should be chosen as high as
possible, which could be realized with large launcher tail areas or high thrust chamber
pressures[7]. This understanding seems to be ambiguously conjectured as the use of conventional
thrust equation based on the geometrical area ratio is not of much help. This is because the plume
shape is varying with respect to the ambient conditions.
The work is hence planned to predict the thrust developed in an annular thrust chamber
Aerospike nozzle at varying back pressure conditions which requires the unsteady modelling. A
substitute area ratio for the nozzle is to be defined for the thrust computation in such nozzles so
that the nozzle performance can be compared with that of the conventional bell nozzles. It is also
planned to carry out the performance analysis of the on the basis of a parametric study. The
performance of the nozzle is planned to be analysed using a computational model which has the
2011
Page: 4

unsteady back pressure conditions to match with the actual flight data. Flow visualization is also
planned to qualitatively asses the flow field and to validate the computational results.
2. AIM AND OBJECTIVES

A. To simulate and understand the flow field in Annular Aerospike Nozzle.
The study of the flow field in Aerospike nozzle is planned by CFD analysis.
B. To compare the thrust developed by Aerospike nozzle with an ideal nozzle
Thrust of the rocket changes with the altitude, therefore it necessary to calculate the thrust of the
Aerospike nozzle and compare with an ideal nozzle.
C. Experimental verification of the computation results
Experiments are also done to capture the flow field to asses qualitatively the nozzle plume
characteristics and to validate the computational results.
2011
Page: 5

3. METHODOLOGY
The overall objective of this study is to find out the thrust developed by aerospike engine with
the change of ambient pressure and compare the performance with the existing bell nozzle. In
order to achieve this objective, the following tasks have been completed sequentially.
3.1 Steady state Simulation for Parabolic Aerospike nozzle
Geometry of an axis-symmetric Aerospike nozzle [hereafter it is Parabolic Aerospike] having
throat area equal to 0.015714285 m^2 almost equal to throat area of existing bell nozzle (area =
0.01674828571) having area ratio 100 [hereafter it is Bell nozzle] is made and then CFD steady
state analysis is done with chamber pressure equal to 60 bar, Total temperature equal to 300 K
and ambient pressure equal to the 101325 Pascal. The mesh has been developed in the
computational part of Parabolic Aerospike nozzle.The axis is 500 mm away from the throat.
3.1.1 GridSystem
Figure 3: Grid generation
Grid is made to capture the boundary layer, however size of the grid always a problematic in
numerical stability. Therefore an optimum grid is necessary for better result and faster
convergence. The information about the grid is as follows:
Cells
Faces
Nodes
2011
Page: 6

32312
65152
32841
Then, the mesh is then exported in Fluent software. Density based solver is used to capture
compressible flow properties. The k-epsilon (2 equations) model is used for turbulence
modelling. Grid independence study is carried out to find an optimum grid.
Figure 4: Pressure at Spike on Parabolic Aerospike with different grid size
3.1.2Boundary Conditions
Boundary conditions at inlet and outlet
inlet
Total Pressure = 60 bar
Total Temperature = 300K[8]
Outlet
Static Pressure = 1.01325 bar
Static Temperature = 300K
Properties at wall
S. No.
1.
2.
3.
4
Properties
Material name
Temperature
External Emissivity
External Radiation Temperature (k)
Value
Aluminium
300K
1
300K
2011
Page: 7

Wall Roughness Constant
0.5
3.1.2 Governing Equations:

Continuity equation
( ui )=0
x j
RANS equations
[(
)]
ui u j 2 ui
ui u j )=
+
+
ij
+
(
( u`iu` j )
x j
xi x j
x j xi 3 xi
x j
Energy equations
[(
C T
( E ) +
u i ( E + p) ]=
k+ p t
+u ( u`iu`j )
[
t
xi
x j
0.85 x j i
Where u denotes mean quantities and the u` fluctuating or turbulence quantities, is density, pis
pressure, and is viscosity. The additional fluctuating quantities known as the Reynolds stresses,
which must be modelled in order to close the system of equations.
3.1.3Solver Controls
Time Marching
Parameter
Solver
Courant Number
Value
Implicit
2
Courant number is the ratio of a time step to a cell residence time

C=
t
x cell /ufluid
However, numerical stability is often problematic and often small time step is required for
stability, therefore initially Courant number was kept at 0.3 during initial calculation and then
increased slowly for faster convergence.
3.1.4Under-relaxation Factors
new =old + (calc old )
2011
Page: 8

Under-relaxation factors slow down the rate at which the solution changes during the iteration
It was initially set to 0.3 and then slowly increased to 0.6 for faster convergence
3.1.5Convergence Criteria
Inevitably any iterative/numerical solution procedure will only give a solution which is
converged relative to some criteria. Flow is said to be converged if:
1. All discretized transport equations are obeyed to a specified tolerance defined by Fluents
residuals
2. The solution no longer changes with more iterations
3. Overall balances close, net mass flow rate must be close to zero
3.2 Design of an Aerospike nozzle which doesnt separate at ground
Since there is no standard procedure for making a design for Aerospike engine, therefore it is
necessary to simulate some different geometry to find out the possible way to optimize the
geometry so that it doesnt separate at ground conditions. The Parabolic Aerospike was showing
flow separation at 101325 Pascal. With the help of Mach number contour of Parabolic Aerospike,
different geometries are made maintaining all geometrical parameter same expect last x-y coordinate of spike. After some trials, geometry is found out which didnt show separation and
hereafter it will be called as Contoured Aerospike.
Contoured
Aerospike
Linear
Aerospike
Figure 5: Grid chosen for Contoured Aerospike
The boundary condition and discretization schemes, convergence criteria remain same as of
Parabolic Aerospike nozzle.
2011
Page: 9

3.3 Steady state simulation for Bell Nozzle having area ratio 100
An existing bell nozzle which shows maximum performance at 66 Pascal having same throat
area equal to 0.016748285 m^2 of Aerospike nozzle having area ratio 100 is drawn and meshed
and exported to Fluent and same boundary condition is given as given in previous two cases.
The length along the axis is equal to 2224.35 meters. Throat diameter is 0.146 meters and exit
diameter is 14.6 meters.
Figure 6: Grid for Bell nozzle
3.4Unsteady Simulation
As rocket climbs up the ambient pressure and temperature changes with altitude. For finding the
overall performance of the rocket it requires an unsteady simulation of with varying pressure and
temperature boundary condition at outlet.
Pressure versus altitude of a standard nozzle is considered and four different curves are fitted to
make the discrete values to a continuous curve. The curve which gives the best fit is five-degree
polynomial. For temperature versus time curve NASA atmospheric chart is used. For giving time
profile boundary condition in Fluent, UDF coding is done which is shown in appendix.
The simulation is run for all three nozzles considered above time step of 1, 0.1 and 0.01 for 179
seconds. Ambient pressure goes to 0.0083 Pascal for 179 seconds; therefore flow behaviour will
be same for higher altitude also. Thrust is tabulated against time at each time step. For validation
of unsteady simulation, steady state simulation is done at discrete time step
3.5 Calculation of thrust for Ideal Bell nozzle [9]
Y
2011
Page: 10

P_ambient
X
P0= Total pressure
Pe
Ue
Ae
Figure 7: Bell nozzle having Area at exit equal to the area at inlet
From control volume approach
CV
CS
ds )
F= t V dV + V (V .
Since volume is constant with time, therefore force in x direction is
ds )X
F X = V X (V .
CS
At exit velocity and area in negative X direction, therefore
F X =U e (U e A 2 )=m U e
Therefore
Pon gasby wall ds x ( inner ) Pe ds x =mU
e
Pon gasby wall ds x ( inner )=P e Ae m
Ue
Pon wall by gas ds x ( inner )=Pe A e + m
Ue
Thrust can be written as
= Pambient ds x (outer ) P onwall by gas ds x ( inner )
P ambient A e Pon wall by gas ds x (inner )
2011
Page: 11

So thrust equals to
=mU
e + Pe A e Pambient Ae
e +(p e p ambient ) A e
mu
For an ideal nozzle the pressure at exit always matches with the ambient pressure
m
chocked =t A t V t
Velocity at throat can be written as Mach number and from isentropic relation, ideal gas equation
the mass flow rate at throat at chocked condition can be written as
Po
2
m
chocked = At
R T 0 +1
+1
1
Velocity at exit is found from Mach number and temperature at exit by isentropic relations
[ ( ) ]
p
2
U e=
R T o 1 e
1
Po
Thrust for ideal nozzle is

chocked U e= A t P0
=m
2
+1
+1
1
[ ( )]
pe
2 2
1
1
Po
Calculation of thrust shows that thrust is not dependent upon total temperature, however the
value of ratio of specific heat is dependent upon temperature, therefore calculation done with
considering total temperature 300 K for thrust calculation will somewhat less than the total
temperature 0f 3600 K.
Thrust coefficient for ideal nozzle is
C =
Po A t
2
+1
+1
1
[ ( )]
p
22
1 e
1
Po
2011
Page: 12

Coefficient of thrust is calculated for an ideal nozzle having chamber pressure equal to 60 bar for
varying exit pressure with change in time and tabulated for the comparison with three nozzles
taken into consideration.
3.6Thrust calculation for ParabolicAerospike Nozzle:

Wall 28
Wall 23
Wall 4,
Figure 8: Wall nomenclature for Parabolic Aerospike
walls
Description
Surface Area (m^2)
inlet
Inlet
0.1570797
Constant area chamber
0.21915077
Convergent Portion
0.14482039
11
Throat portion
0.035194021
14
Divergent Portion
28
Spike
0.6402524
23
Base
0.4347462
Total Surface Area
0.27984902
1.911092
Thrust is equal to the pressure force and viscous force acting on these walls acted by chamber
fluid particles and ambient fluid particles
Thrust=Chamb er force + Flui d force + Ambien t force
2011
Page: 13

Viscous force by ambient fluid particle is ignored; however it can be calculated by external flow
simulation
1. Force on inlet wall can be calculate by multiplying surface area with chamber pressure
chambe r force =60 105 0.1570797=942477.8 Newtons
2. Forces on walls 4, 8, 11, 14, 28, 23 can be computed by Fluent, and we can call it
Fluid_Force.
3. Ambient force can be written as:
Ambien t force =( Inlet area + Spike areaX + Basearea )Pambient
The area of spike on Y-Z plane is calculated by projecting area of spike and from geometry it can
be calculated as
Area spike X = ( 0. 475 20.3722 )=0.274075684 m2
Therefore ambient force in X- direction will be equal to the pressure multiplied by sum of all the
area projected on Y-Z plane faced by ambient
Ambien t force =( 0.1570797+0.27407568+0.4347462 )P ambient
( 0.86590158 )Pambient
Therefore thrust can be calculated as

Thrust=942477.8+ Flui d force 0.8523459Pambient
Thrust is calculated at each time step of 1 second and tabulated against time and ambient
pressure.
3.7Thrust calculation for ContouredAerospike Nozzle
2011
Page: 14

Wall 25
Wall 18
Wall 4, 8, 11, 14,
22
Figure 9: Wall nomenclature for Parabolic Aerospike

Walls Nomenclature:
walls
Description
Surface Area (m^2)
inlet
Inlet
0.1570797
Constant area chamber
0.031415932
8, 11
Convergent Portion
0.3299604
14
Throat portion
0.034601972
22
Divergent Portion
0.28014001
25
Spike
0.6283586
18
Base
Total Surface Area
Chamber force will be same as of Parabolic Aerospike
0.50764269
1.9691997
Ambien t force =( Inlet area + Spike areaX + Basearea )Pambient

Projected area in Y-Z plane of different section can be found as
Area spike X = ( 0. 475 20.314861762 )=0.397530
Am bient force =( 0.1570797+0.397530+0.50764269 )P ambient
2011
Page: 15

1.06226969Pambient
Thrust=942478.2+ Flui d force 1.06226969P ambient

Thrust is calculated at each time step of 1 second and tabulated against time and ambient
pressure.
3.8Thrust calculation for Bell Nozzle
Wall 5
Wall 17, 21,
25
Wall
12
Figure 10: Wall nomenclature for Bell Nozzle
Thrust acting on the nozzle can be written as

Are ainlet = ( 0.135 2 )=0.05725553
5
chambe r force =60 10 0.0572553=343533.1567 Newtons
Projected area in X- direction is computed as

Are a converging part = (0 .1352.0732 )=0.040513978
2011
Page: 16

2
Are a diverging part = ( 0.73123 .073 )=1.6630619

Are a curved part =1.66306190.0405139=1.622548922
Are a faced ny ambient =1.622548922+ 0.0572553=1.6798044
Therefore thrust can be calculated as
Thrust=343533.1567+ Flui d force 1.6798044Pambient
3.9 Validation through Schlieren Flow Visualization Technique

A validation model of Linear Aerospike is made of area ratio 3 and experiment is conducted with
chamber pressure equal to 5.5 bars. With Schlierentechnique the density contoured is captured
and validated with experiment. Grid of Linear Aerospike is as shown in figure 11.
Figure 11: Grid for Validation model
2011
Page: 17

4.0 Experimental Set-up
Figure 12: Schlieren Flow Visualization Set-up
Schlieren flow visualization is based on the deflection of light by a refractive index gradient. The
index gradient is directly related to flow density gradient. The deflected light is compared to
undeflected light at a viewing screen. The undisturbed light is partially blocked by a knife edge.
The light that is deflected toward or away from the knife edge produces a shadow pattern
depending upon whether it was previously blocked or unblocked. This shadow pattern is a lightintensity representation of the expansions (low density regions) and compressions (high density
regions) which characterize the flow.
2011
Page: 18

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Simulation results for Parabolic and Contoured Aerospike
Parabolic and contoured Aerospike are simulated for time varying pressure and
temperature boundary condition at outlet and plotted against time and compared with the
2011
Page: 19

coefficient of thrust for ideal nozzle for same total pressure and outlet pressure
Figure 13: Coefficient of force for Ideal, Parabolic and Contoured Aerospike against time
For understanding the thrust variation for Parabolic as well as Contoured Aerospike, each
component of the force should be examined individually.
2011
Page: 20

4.2 Results for Contoured Aerospike

Since this geometry didnt separate at 101325 Pascal, therefore the forces on all the walls
didnt change with the time except the base wall. Therefore the only factor which changes
the performance of Aerospike nozzle is the flow over the base. Ambient pressure and the
average pressure on the base are plotted against time.
Figure 14: Ambient and average pressure on the base time profile
By viewing the base pressure time profile of spike intutionally we can devide the curve into three
regimes. Regime 1 is from time 0 to 49 seconds and regime 2 is from time 54 second to 86
2011
Page: 21

seconds and regime 3 is 89 to 180 seconds. 50-54 and 87-89 second can be considered as
transient regime
Here we can see an analogy of the flow over aerospike with the bell nozzle. Regime 1 can be
compared with overexpansion when pressure at exit is less than the ambient, regime 2 can be
considered as design condition and regime 3 can be considerd as underexpansion.
For better understanding the flow behavoiur and thrust variation we should look at the steady
state analysis of the flow at different time .
4.2.1 Regime 1: flow field at 0 sec
Figure 15: Contours of Mach numberFigure 16: Contours of Static Pressure
The contoured Aerospike geometry didnt show any separation at 101325 Pascal. At the end of
the wall flow has to go through a series of expansion waves and base lip shock which ultimately
increase the pressure downstream of the spike. The fluid particle coming from both the side is
colliding at point A, losing their Y component of momentum and eventually the pressure at point
A increases locally and recirculation zone formation takes place at the base wall. Since the static
pressure at point A is higher than the ambient the flow must be taking place in both directions.
Base is fully closed by internal flow; however the stagnation point A is still affected by ambient
pressure.
2011
Page: 22

4.2.2 Regime1: Flowfield at 30 sec
Figure 17: Contours of Mach numberFigure18: Contours of Static Pressure
At 30 second the ambient pressure goes to 83387 Pascal and the with decrement of ambient
pressure force point A moves away from the base along X-axis and the Y- momentum loss is
less at point A due to less ambient force on the flow compared to 101325 Pascal. Due to loss
of momentum static pressure at point A increases and recirculation region forms near base
wall and flow inside is still not mixed with ambient. Therefore pressure on base wall is strong
function of ambient pressure.
4. 2.3 Transient Regime: Flow field at intermediate stage of 1st and 2nd regime at 50 second
2011
Page: 23

Figure 19: Contours of Mach number
Fig 20: Contours of Static Pressure
It is transient regime where flow changes from regime 1 to regime 2. The collision point of two
jets i.e. point A moves far way downstream along the axis, the strength of recirculation zones
decreases and external flow starts flowing inside recirculation zone and flow is called to be in
open wake state.
4.2.4: Regime 2: Flow field at 55 second
In this regime the meeting point of two jets goes towards infinity, recirculation zone
disappears and external flow comes in between of two jets and pressure on the wall is equal
to the ambient pressure. At this point we can say Aerospike nozzle is flying at its designed
pressure ratio. The ambient pressure at 55 second is taken to be 45578.7 Pascal.
2011
Page: 24

Fig 22: Contours of Static Pressure
4.2.5 Regime 3: Flow field at 100 seconds

When the pressure goes to certain point the expansion occurs at the wall and jets
encloses the base re-circulation region once again and flow goes into closed wake
condition.
Figure 24: Contours of Static Pressure
2011
Page: 25

Since the flow is not affected by external flow the force on base wall due to formation of
recirculation zone remains same. However the pressure at other side of the wall decreases
therefore in regime 3 we get an extra thrust due to base.
Higher surface area of the base will result in higher component of thrust at altitude but at the
same it will add to the drag component in lower altitude.
Forces at different times
Time
0
50
100
179
Pressure
Chamber_forc
101325
53820
2585.49
0.08301
e
942477.8
942477.8
942477.8
942477.8
Fluid_force
Ambient_forc
Thrust
741132.8
767838.1
779950.4
779956.38
e
107634.5
57172.1
2746.435
0.008818315
93710.48366
117467.6417
159780.9455
162521.4112
4.3 Results for Parabolic Aerospike

When parabolic Aerospike is simulated for 60 bar total pressure and 101325 Pascal (ambient
pressure), flow gets separated and the recirculation zone is formed at the base. At the
separation point, the formation of oblique shock wave increases the pressure downstream,
however the increased pressure is still less than the ambient, so moves towards base and at
the axis where fluid particle impinged from both sides, due to velocity loss the static pressure
increases. Since the static pressure is high at axis and low at downstream of shock wave, the
formation of recirculation zone will occur.
2011
Page: 26

Figure 26: Contours of Static Pressure
With decrement in ambient pressure the flow separation point on the spike moves downstream.
Forces at different time:
Time
Pressure
Chamber_forc
Fluid_force
Ambient_forc
Thrust
0
50
100
179
101325
53820
2585.49
0.08301
e
942477.8
942477.8
942477.8
942477.8
759342.2
783033.3
796571.1
796572.5
e
86363.94832
45873.8529
1831.555
0.0049189
96771.7
113570.6
143703.4
145905.3
4.4 Results for Bell Nozzle

Since the bell geometry taken into consideration is used in higher atmosphere, therefore it
will not give desired performance in lower atmosphere. The formation of shock inside the
nozzle can be seen from pressure as well as Mach and pressure contour.
2011
Page: 27

Figure 27: Contours of Mach numberFigure28: Contours of Static Pressure
With change in ambient pressure the shock wave moves downstream, however presence of shock
inside the nozzle is not desirable.
Forces at different time:
Time
0
50
100
179
Pressure
Chamber_forc
101325
53820
2585.49
0.08301
e
343533.1567
343533.1567
343533.1567
343533.1567
Fluid_force
Ambient_forc
Thrust
73671.444
145762.94
179609.14
179609.14
e
170206.1808
90407.0728
4343.1174
0.08
99655
107383.1439
159580.8993
163924.027
Unlike Aerospike nozzle Fluid force on bell nozzle does not change once nozzle starts operating
for designed condition.
4.5 Validation through Schlieren Flow Visualization Technique
2011
Page: 28

2011
Page: 29

Superimposed Images:
2011
Page: 30

5. Conclusions
Aerospike nozzle adapts the flow according to the ambient. Flow in Aerospike nozzle is
mainly affected by base wall pressure variation, therefore flow can be divided into three
regimes according to the pressure ratios. At lower altitude the performance is improved due
to pressure force acting on the spike, however higher base area results in higher drag. When
the rocket ascends the pressure acting on the spike remain constant, the only factor which
increases the thrust is the pressure force acting on the base. Due to formation of recirculation
zone the pressure on the base wall, the pressure remains constant and its equal to the fraction
of 1 bar, however the pressure on the side faced by ambient decreases significantly and goes
to zero at higher altitudes. Therefore having a higher base area is advantageous at higher
altitude.
2011
Page: 31

6. Appendix
UDF code for time varying pressure and temperature boundary condition in C++
#include "udf.h"
#include <cmath>
DEFINE_PROFILE(unsteady_pressure, thread, position)
{
float t, pressure, j;
face_t f;
t = RP_Get_Real("flow-time");
if (t<81)
{
j=t;
pressure= -1.737e-005* pow (j,5) + 0.00558 * pow(j,4) -0.3396*
pow (j,3) -13.02 * pow (j,2) -40.47 *j + 1.014e+005;
}
else if (t>=81 && t<111)
{
j= t-81;
pressure= 3.664e-005*pow(j,5) -0.002495*pow(j,4)

*pow(j,3) + 19.52*pow(j,2) - 792.9*j +1.172e+004 ;
}
- 0.1297
else if (t>=111 && t<151)

{
j= t-111;
pressure= -1.086e-005*pow(j,5) + 0.001751 *pow (j,4)
-0.1187*pow (j,3) + 4.387 *pow(j,2) -91.67*j + 879.4;
Page: 32
2011

}
else if (t>=151 && t<180)
{
j=t-151;
pressure= -6.019e-007*pow(j,5)+ 6.794e-005*pow(j,4)+

-0.003153*pow(j,3) +
0.07605*pow(j,2) + -0.9644*j + 5.195;
}
begin_f_loop(f, thread)
{
F_PROFILE(f, thread, position) = pressure;
}
end_f_loop(f, thread)
}
DEFINE_PROFILE(unsteady_temperature, thread, position)

{
float t, temperature, j;
face_t f;
t = RP_Get_Real("flow-time");
if (t<71)
temperature = 9.188e-009*pow(t,5) -1.348e-006*pow(t,4)
-4.088e-006*pow(t,3)-0.01082*pow(t,2) + 0.007876*t + 288 ;
else if (t>=71 && t<101)
temperature= 216.54;
else if (t>=101 && t<180)
2011
Page: 33

temperature = 2.98e-008 *pow(t,5) -2.038e-005 *pow(t,4) +
0.005586*pow(t,3) -0.7474 *pow(t,2) + 50.39*t -1196 ;
begin_f_loop(f, thread)
{
F_PROFILE(f, thread, position) = temperature;
}
end_f_loop(f, thread)
}
2011
Page: 34

2011
Page: 35

7. REFRENCES
[1] http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/rocket3.htm
[2] J. J. Korte, Parametric Model of An Aerospike Rocket Engine,NASA Langley
Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 2368, AIAA-2000-1044
[3] J.J. Korte, A.0. Salas, H. J. Dunn, N. M. Alex, W. W. Follet, G.E. Orient, A. H. Hadid,
Multidisciplinary Approach to Aerospike nozzle design, NASA- TM 110326
[4] http://www. aerospaceweb.org/design/aerospike
[5] Paul V. Tartabini, Roger A. Lepsch, J. J. Korte and Kathryn E. Wurster, A
Multidisciplinary Performance Analysis of A Lifting-Body Single-Stage-to-Orbit Vehicle,
NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia 23681, AIAA-2000-1045
[6] http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerospike_engine
[7] S. B. Verma, Study of restricted Shock Separation Phenomena in a Thrust Optimized
Parabolic Nozzle, J. Propulsion and Power, 2009
[8] Shannon D. Eilers1, Matthew D. Wilson1 and Stephen A. Whitmore2, Analytical and
Experimental Evaluation of Aerodynamic Thrust Vectoring on an Aerospike Nozzle,
Utah State University, Logan, Utah, 84322
[9] George P. Shutton& Oscar Biblarz,Rocket Propulsion Elements, Wiley India Pvt. Ltd.
Seventh Edition, p. 33, 68-80
[10] Fluent UDF Manual C++ Tutorial by cplusplus.com
[11] NASA atmospheric Flight Data
2011
Page: 36

Computational studies on Aerospike Nozzles

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Computational studies on Aerospike Nozzles

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Computational and Experimental studies

Figure 1: Overexpanded and Underexpandednozzle [1]

Computational and Experimental studies

. When the wake is closed, the base

Figure 2: Schematic of flow in Aerospikenozzle[3]

Computational and Experimental studies

Computational and Experimental studies

Computational and Experimental studies

2. AIM AND OBJECTIVES

Computational and Experimental studies

Figure 3: Grid generation

Computational and Experimental studies

Figure 4: Pressure at Spike on Parabolic Aerospike with different grid size

Total Pressure = 60 bar

Total Temperature = 300K[8]

Static Pressure = 1.01325 bar

Static Temperature = 300K

Computational and Experimental studies

Wall Roughness Constant

3.1.2 Governing Equations:

Courant number is the ratio of a time step to a cell residence time

Computational and Experimental studies

Figure 5: Grid chosen for Contoured Aerospike

Computational and Experimental studies

Figure 6: Grid for Bell nozzle

Computational and Experimental studies

P0= Total pressure

From control volume approach

At exit velocity and area in negative X direction, therefore

Computational and Experimental studies

Thrust for ideal nozzle is

Computational and Experimental studies

3.6Thrust calculation for ParabolicAerospike Nozzle:

Figure 8: Wall nomenclature for Parabolic Aerospike

Surface Area (m^2)

Constant area chamber

Total Surface Area

Computational and Experimental studies

Therefore thrust can be calculated as

3.7Thrust calculation for ContouredAerospike Nozzle

Computational and Experimental studies

Figure 9: Wall nomenclature for Parabolic Aerospike

Thrust=Chamb er force + Flui d force + Ambien t force

Surface Area (m^2)

Constant area chamber

Ambien t force =( Inlet area + Spike areaX + Basearea )Pambient

Computational and Experimental studies

Thrust=942478.2+ Flui d force 1.06226969P ambient

Figure 10: Wall nomenclature for Bell Nozzle

Thrust acting on the nozzle can be written as

chambe r force =60 10 0.0572553=343533.1567 Newtons

Projected area in X- direction is computed as

Computational and Experimental studies

Are a diverging part = ( 0.73123 .073 )=1.6630619

3.9 Validation through Schlieren Flow Visualization Technique

Figure 11: Grid for Validation model

Computational and Experimental studies

4.0 Experimental Set-up

Figure 12: Schlieren Flow Visualization Set-up

Computational and Experimental studies

4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Computational and Experimental studies

Computational and Experimental studies

pressure= 3.664e-005pow(j,5) -0.002495pow(j,4)

pressure= -6.019e-007pow(j,5)+ 6.794e-005pow(j,4)+