Drag reduction of supersonic blunt bodies using opposing jet and nozzle geometric variations

Passive and active flow control methods are used to manipulate flow fields to reduce acoustic signature, aerodynamic drag and heating experienced by blunt bodies flying at supersonic and hypersonic speeds. This paper investigate the use of active opposing jet concept in combination with geometric variations of the opposing jet nozzle to alleviate high wave drag formation. A numerical study is conducted to observe the effects of simple jet as well as jet emanating from a divergent nozzle located at the nose of a blunt hemispherical body. An initial discussion is presented of the complex shock wave pattern flow physics occurring when opposing jet ejected from a nozzle under various operating conditions interacts with the free stream flow. The complex flow physics that include long penetration and short penetration mode is studied in conjunction with effect on drag. The numerical setup consists of supersonic free stream flow interacting with an opposing sonic jet under varying pressure ratios. Initial computational results are validated by identifying prominent flow features as well as comparing available experimental data of surface pressure distributions. Preliminary validation is followed by the introduction of a divergent nozzle in the blunt body nose region. A series of numerical iterations are performed by varying nozzle geometric parameters that include nozzle divergent angle and nozzle length for a certain jet pressure ratio. Long penetration mode, short penetration mode as well as flow separations are captured accurately during the analysis. The results show a considerable reduction in drag by the use of a divergent nozzle. Specifically, 46% and 56% reduction in drag coefficient is achieved at pressure ratio of 0.6 and 0.8 respectively in the divergent nozzle cases as compared to the simple blunt body without any nozzle.