Aerospike: Mission Simulation and Optimal Design Using Openfoam and Dakota

Hypersonic flight presents several difficulties linked to the important viscous dissipation of kinetic energy on the surface of a vehicle which causes the need for relevant Thermal Protection Systems, reduces communication efficiency due to air ionization and creates an important pressure load due to the stagnation point on the fuselage. Those effects are enlarged by the presence of a shock wave with its strength growing in the case of a blunt body-shaped vehicle. The aim of this work is to study the effectiveness of the static device called "Aerospike" to reduce the effects induced by the hypersonic flight of a blunt body, in particular with respect to the average surface temperature, the pressure load and drag coefficient. After having studied a base case, an optimization process to define an optimal shape both for the aerospike and the aerodisk are presented.