Application of Pressure-Based Coupled Solver to the Problem of Hypersonic Missiles with Aerospikes

Many design concepts of high-speed tactical guided missiles use aerospikes to reduce the drag and heating on the missiles body. The accurate numerical prediction of hypersonic flows over aerospike-protected missile shapes using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) can be a valuable tool in the evaluation of such co ncepts. This study presents an effective and robust numerical approach to the problem of a hypersonic flow over a missile body shielded with aerospike/aerodisc. The problem considers three-dimensional flow around aerospikeprotected missile domes at a free stream Mach number ranging from 4.5 to 6.06 and angles of attack varying from 0 to 16 deg. Steady-state nu merical simulations are carried out using the general purpose CFD code FLUENT, version 6.3. Pressure-based coupled solver formulation is chosen to obtain an accurate fast-co nverging solution. SST ω k turbulence model is employed to simulate turbulence effects. T he near-wall mesh is fine enough to resolve the viscosity-affected near-wall region all the way to the laminar sublayer, and FLUENT’s enhanced wall treatment is applied. Numerical results expressed in terms of pressure coefficient are compared with experimental data, and favorable agreement is found. Effects of aerospike on missile dome surface aeroheating are also presented.