Development and Numerical validation of an Aerospike nozzle Contour Design

Abstract

Aerospike nozzle simplified design and analysis, as well as test results, are presented. New techniques in nozzle design have been used to improve the performance of current rocket engines. The use of an aerospike nozzle is one such technique. It outperforms the existing proven bell nozzle in terms of overall performance. This study analyses the development and flow analysis of an aerospike nozzle at sea level, validating their results by taking into account currently used bell nozzles. The flow over the aerospike pump is investigated in higher depth using computational fluid dynamics under an autonomous fire testing condition. This test showed that the approximate design method used to determine an aerospike nozzle shape can lead to extremely effective nozzles. A model of the current 7.45 kN bell nozzle was selected as a specimen to develop an aerospike Nozzle. Gambit and Fluent software were used to model and examine the flow characteristics of building the aerospike nozzle. The developed aerospike nozzle shows a nearly 2% increase in performance over the existing nozzle.