Wave Drag Reduction Approach for Blunt Bodies at High Angles of Attack

Abstract

Proof-of-concept experiments for a spike aligned into the oncoming flow at the nose of a supersonic blunt body were performed to investigate its aerodynamic effectiveness over a wide range of body's angles of attack. The investigations have been conducted in the Ludwieg Tube Facility at DLR Göttingen at Mach 2, 3 and 5 for angles of attack from 0 to 30 degrees. The model tested is a cylindrical body with a hemispherical nose. Additionally to the body equipped with an aligned spike, a reference body without a spike and a body with a conventional fixed spike were investigated. Furthermore, a test model with a prototype of a pivoting self-aligning spike-device has also been investigated. The results containing shadowgraph visualizations, direct force measurements and infrared heat flux measurements show the clear advantages of the spikes aligned into the flow.