The paper investigates thruster nozzle shapes for use in annular multichamber aerospike engine configurations. A thruster shape with a supersonic nozzle section curved in the circumferential and longitudinal directions is presented and compared to a classical linear thruster configuration. The multithruster aerospike engine flowfield along a typical ascent trajectory including slipstream effects is investigated by solving the Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes with a realizable turbulence model. Longitudinal curvature leads to a radial pressure stratification of the thruster exit flow (caused by internal expansion and compression waves), with a decrease in pressure at the plug nozzle and an increase at the outer thruster lip. Circumferential curvature leads to a more homogeneous flow in the lateral direction, reducing pressure peaks at thruster intersections. For a fixed overall engine diameter, the larger engine nozzle area achieved with dual curved thrusters leads to performance improvements of about 2% when compared with the linear design. Improvements result from increased thruster performance at higher pressure ratios and a larger contribution of the plug, which has a larger area. In addition, engines with curved thrusters use a greater portion of the launcher’s cross section and thus reduce base drag.
Numerical Analysis of Curved Thrusters for Multichamber Aerospike Engines in Flight Conditions
Journal of Propulsion and Power ; 33 , 4 ; 1002-1019
2017-07-01
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Numerical Analysis of Curved Thrusters for Multichamber Aerospike Engines in Flight Conditions
Online Contents | 2017
|Numerical Analysis of Curved Thrusters for Multichamber Aerospike Engines in Flight Conditions
Online Contents | 2017
|A study of aerospike-nozzle engines
AIAA | 1998
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