Analysis of Effectiveness of the External Expansion Nozzle with a Perforated Central Body

The paper substantiates the application of an external expansion (“aerospike”) nozzle with a profiled central body to a wedge-air rocket engine operating in a wide range of flight altitudes and external pressures. A numerical simulation of the flow of hydrocarbon fuel combustion products along the aerospike nozzle at different flight altitudes is performed. We consider a flow around a smooth profiled central body and a central body with a perforated insert, which supposedly reduces the aerodynamic drag and improves the thrust characteristics. The parameters of the gas entering the nozzle correspond to the conditions at the outlet of the combustion chamber of the well-tested scheme of the power plant. The calculation of the thrust characteristics of a wide-range jet engine shows a noticeable increase in the thrust force of an external expansion nozzle made with perforated inserts comparing with thrust of the traditional dual-bell nozzle.