Numerical Investigation of Supersonic Flow over Aero-Disk Spiked Ballistic Bodies

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) analysis has been carried out on ballistic bodies with a hemispherical aero-disk spike. This research involves the presence and absence of a blunt tip to understand the flow behavior on these bodies under two scenarios namely zero-degree angle of attack and at supersonic speed (Mach 2.0). The aerodynamic drag and thermal heat transfer effects of these spikes on three different blunt-body configurations have been studied. The flow patterns on these configurations were three-dimensionally visualized through Schlieren images. It was observed that the usage of an aero-disk spike reduced the aerodynamic drag by 50%–60%. Additionally, peak surface heat flux reduced significantly. Similar drag reduction trends were noticed with the usage of the blunt tip version as well, but with further reduction in peak surface heat flux. In conclusion, the usage of blunt tip aero-disk spike on the configuration labeled 3221 has significantly improved the drag and surface heat flux effects.