A space vehicle in atmosphere travels mostly at supersonic speed and generates a very strong bow shock wave around its blunt nose. This causes a large high-pressure area at the front nose surface accompanied with high temperature. It suggests high-pressure drag and high risk of heat shield failure. Oblique shock and conical separated flow zone generated by a forward disk-tip spike significantly reduce the drag by reducing the high-pressure area on the blunt nose. In the present work, aerodynamics of the high-speed spike-tipped blunt nose is investigated here numerically with Mach number up to 4.5. It is highlighted here that there exists an optimal combination of spike length and disk-tip diameter giving rise to minimal drag at supersonic speed. The reason for drag reduction is analyzed in detail.
Drag Reduction and Aerodynamic Shape Optimization for Spike-Tipped Supersonic Blunt Nose
Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets ; 55 , 3 ; 552-560
2018-03-26
9 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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