Design and Optimization of Aerospike nozzle using CFD

Abstract

New rocket designs are being adopted to increase the performance of the current satellite launch vehicles (SLVs). But, the aerospike (or plug) nozzle concept that has been under development since the 1950s is yet to be utilized on a launch platform. Due to its ability to adjust the environment by altering the outer jet boundary, the aerospike nozzle delivers better performance compared to present day bell nozzle. An aerospike nozzle is designed for 20 bar pressure ratio. In order to improve the performance of the aerospike nozzle for various conditions, optimization of the nozzle was carried out for some important design parameters and their performances were studied for cold flow conditions. Initially a model of an aerospike nozzle is created for certain parameters, then the optimization process is carried out for the nozzle (Truncated model & Base bleed model). Optimized model is designed by the software GAMBIT and the flow behaviour is analysed by the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software called FLUENT. Comparison also takes place between the full length and the optimized models.