Hostname: page-component-7f64f4797f-7vssv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-11-04T03:26:04.370Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Drag reduction on a spiked body at hypersonic speed

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 February 2016

G. d’Humières  and
J. L. Stollery
G. d’Humières
Affiliation:
guillaume.dhumieres@ecl2009.ec-lyon.fr, School of Engineering, Cranfield University, Bedford, UK
J. L. Stollery
Affiliation:
j.l.stollery@cranfield.ac.uk
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Fitting a spike on a blunt body provides a drag reduction at supersonic and hypersonic speeds. In this study, the laminar flow over a spiked, conical body terminated by a spherical cap, inspired by the Apollo re-entry capsule design, was investigated using a hypersonic wind tunnel. Schlieren pictures revealed the absence of flow unsteadiness for the range of spike lengths tested, and force measurements showed a maximum reduction of 77% of the unspiked body drag.

A simple theoretical model based on the pressure drag generated by a solid cone showed good agreement with the experimental data. The measured shock stand-off distance agreed well with predictions.

Information

Type
Research Article
Information
The Aeronautical Journal , Volume 114 , Issue 1152 , February 2010 , pp. 113 - 119
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Aeronautical Society 2010 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

1. Holden, M.S., Heat Transfer in Separated Flow, 1963, PhD thesis, Imperial College, London.Google Scholar
2. Crawford, D.H., Investigation of the flow over a spiked-nose hemisphere-cylinder at a Mach number of 6·8, 1959, NASA TN D-118, Washington, DC, USA.Google Scholar
3. Yamauchi, M., Fujii, K. and Tamura, Y., Numerical investigation of supersonic flows around a spiked blunt-body, 1993, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Washington, DC, USA.Google Scholar
4. Maull, D.J., Hypersonic flow over axially symmetric spiked bodies, J Fluid Mech, 1960, 8, (4), pp 584–592.Google Scholar
5. Wood, C.J., Hypersonic flow over spiked cones, J Fluid Mech, 1962, 12, (4), pp 614–624.Google Scholar
6. Gilinsky, M., Blankson, I.M., Sakharov, V.I. and Shvets, A.I., Shock wave mitigation at blunt bodies using needled and shells against supersonic flow, 2001, AIAA 01-3204, AIAA/ASME/SAE/AEE 37th Joint Propulsion Conference, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.Google Scholar
7. Hutt, G.R. and Howe, A.J., Forward facing spike effects on bodies of different cross section in supersonic flow, Aeronaut J, 1989, 93, (926), pp 229–236.Google Scholar
8. Kalimuthu, R., Mehta, R.C. and Rathakrishnan, E., Experimental investigation on spiked body in hypersonic flow, Aeronaut J, 2008, 112, (1136), pp 593–598.Google Scholar
9. Hillje, E.R., Entry flight aerodynamics from Apollo mission AS-202 (Entry flight aerodynamics from Apollo mission AS-202), 1967, NASA-TN-D-4185, Houston, TX, USA.Google Scholar
10. Lanson, F. and Stollery, J.L., Some hypersonic intake studies, Aeronaut J, 2006, 110, (1105), pp 145–156.Google Scholar
11. Daso, E.O., Pritchett, V.E., Wang, T., Ota, D.K., Blankson, I.M. and Auslender, A.H., Dynamics of shock dispersion and interactions in supersonic freestreams with counterflowing jets, AIAA J, 2009, 47, (6), pp 1313–1326.Google Scholar
12. Huwaldt, J.A., Supersonic cone, 2008, homepage.mac.com/jhuwaldt/java/.1.02. Google Scholar
13. D’humieres, G.G., Drag Reduction on a Spiked Body at Hypersonic Speeds 2009, MSc thesis, Cranfield University: School of Engineering, UK.Google Scholar
14. Stollery, J.L. and Maull, D.J., A note on shock detachment distance, Aeronaut J, 1960, 64, (594), pp 357–359.10.1017/S0368393100072953Google Scholar
15. AMES RESEARCH STAFF. Equations, tables, and charts for compressible flow, 1953, NACA TR-1135, Ames Aeronautical Laboratory, Moffett Field, CA, USA.Google Scholar