www.mechieprojects.

com

DRAG
REDUCTION
USING
AEROSPIKE
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 AIM

 INTRODUCTION

 LITERATURE SURVEY

 CFD ANALYSIS OF AEROSPIKE

 RESULTS

 CONCLUSIONS

www.mechieprojects.com
www.mechieprojects.com

AIM
 The main aim of this very brief study is to understand the
phenomena of aerodynamic drag reduction in aerospace vehicles
(missiles) using fixed body aero spikes.

 CFD study has been carried out using Fluent to study the flow
phenomena ahead of a missile nose-cone for supersonic
flow(M=6 & 0.75).

 Aero spike are protrusions ahead of a missile nose-cone which

replaces the strong bow shock with a system of weaker shocks
along with creating a zone of recirculation flow ahead of the fore
body thus reducing both drag and aerodynamic heating.
 BALLISTIC MISSILE TRAJECTORY

LOSSES:
1.GRAVITATIONAL PULL – nothing can be done
2.AERODYNAMIC DRAG – can be minimized
www.mechieprojects.com
DRAG
Main contributors to drag in missile:
TYPES CAUSES
SKIN FRICTION DRAG VISCOSITY OF AIR
PERSSURE DRAG and SHAPE OF FOREBODY
WAVE DRAG
BASE DRAG EXHAUST AND WAKE

Minuteman Topol-M Trident

 NEED FOR THE USE OF BLUNT
NOSE IN SUPERSONIC MISSILES
 Considering only aerodynamics, sharp and pointed nose are
most beneficial in supersonic flight.
 But the available space in a cone or a wedge shaped nose is
limited.
 Therefore it is not practicable for the integration of avionic or
a seeker.
 The functionality of the device for seeking a target might be
increased which is often of advantage in particular for highly
agile flying objects.

www.mechieprojects.com
 METHOD TO REDUCE
WAVE DRAG
 Aero-spike
 Air-spike
 Flame spike
 Pulse jet
 Laser beam
 Microwaves
 Chromium coating
 Cavitations

www.mechieprojects.com
www.mechieprojects.com

AEROSPIKE
 A well known concept of reducing the
wave drag while keeping a blunt nose
in supersonic flight is the aero spike
concept

 The thin antenna-like structure

mounted on the nose cone is the aero-
spike.

 Slight variations of the initial design

include cones, spheres or disks that are
additionally mounted on the tip of the
rod.
 Different Aerospike Configurations

www.mechieprojects.com
HOW AEROSPIKE REDUCES DRAG?
 A detached bow shock stands out in front of the
aerospike and remains away from the dome.
 As the flow behind the bow shock expands around
the aerospike, a weak compression is formed at its
base.
 The wake flow caused by the aero spike and the
nearly stagnant flow near the dome creates the
conically-shaped recirculation region.
 Recirculating region is separated from the inviscid
flow within the bow shock by a flow separation
shock.
 Within the recirculating region the pressure and
temperature is reduced.
 Drag reduction of 50% is achieved.
 Meshing in Gambit
 2-D Analysis
 Mapped Structured Mesh
 The zone specified are
 Pressure far-field
 Wall
 Pressure outlet
 Axis

www.mechieprojects.com
 Problem definition in FLUENT
Define the problem as,
 Solver -Pressure based
 Formulation -Implicit
 Space -2D
 Time -Steady
 Viscous -Two-equation SST-k-omega model
 Enable the Energy equation
 The fluid type used is Air defined as ideal gas
 Operating pressure= 0 Pa
 Inputs to Pressure Far-Field Zone
 The reference values are taken from internal database based on
average trajectory profile for long range aerospace vehicles.

 The input values are

 Static Gauge Pressure – 11111 Pa

 Mach no-0.75M

 Temperature - 216 k

 The fluid is air. The motion type is stationary.

 Wall boundary condition – no slip condition.

www.mechieprojects.com
 EFFECT OF AEROSPIKE for M=6.0
Hemisphere Aerospike l/d=0.5 Aerospike l/d=1.0
Actual Mach No. contour at M=6

www.mechieprojects.com
 Static Pressure Contours

M=0.75
 Static Temperature Contours

M=0.75
 Velocity (Mach No. )Contours

M=0.75
www.mechieprojects.com
Results & Conclusion
M=6 Configuration Total Force
(Pressure+ Viscous)

Hemisphere 1295.8 N
Aerospike (l/d=1) 1230.7 N
Aerospike (l/d=1.5) 1206.4 N

M=0.75 Configuration Total Force Cd

(Pressure+ Viscous)

Blunt Body 10192 N 0.84

Hemisphere 3526 N 0.32
Aerospike (l/d=1) 3109 N 0.2796

 The coefficient of drag has been found for each case. From the results, it is proved that the use of
aerospike reduces the drag significantly.

 The increase in length to diameter ratio the drag reduces

 Reason for Reduction in drag and
Temperature
 Flow recirculation occurs which reduces the pressure
and temperature along the length of the spike and the
nosecone.
 In addition to the aerodynamic drag reduction, heat
transfer was also reduced as the length of the spike
increases.
 Spike lengths larger than some critical length were not
effective due to the detachment of the shock structure
from the point of the spike and its reformation as a
strong normal shock just upstream of the body.
 References
1. MEHTA, R.C. Numerical heat transfer study over spiked-blunt body at Mach 6.80, AIAA
paper 2000-0344, January 2000.
2. BODONOFF, S.N. and VAS, I.E. Preliminary investigations of spiked bodies at hypersonic
speeds, J Aerospace Sciences, 1959, 26, (2), pp
3. CRAWFORD D.H. Investigation of the flow over a spiked-nose hemisphere 65-74.
4. FUJITA, M. and KUBOTA, H. Numerical simulation of flow field over a spiked-nose,
Computational Fluid Dynamics J, 1992, 1, (2), pp 187195.
5. GUENTHER, R.A. and REDING, J.P. Fluctuating pressure environment of a drag reduction
spike, J Spacecraft and Rockets, 1977, 44, (12), pp 705-710. cylinder at a Mach number of
6.8, NASA TN D-118, December Fluid Mechanics, 1960, 8, (4), pp 584-592.
6. HUTT, G.R. and HOWE, A.J. Forward facing spike effects on bodies of different cross
section in supersonic flow, Aeronaut J, 1989, 93, (6), pp 229-234.
7. KALIMUTHU, R., MEHTA, R.C. and RATHAKRISHANN, E. Blunt body drag reduction
using aerospike and aerodisk at Mach 6, in the proceedings of International Conference on
High Speed Trans-atmospheric Air & Space Transportation, Hyderabad, India, June 2007.