Aerospike nozzle performance study and its contour optimization

Because aerospike nozzle can meet the need of Single-Stage-To-Orbit (SSTO), it has already attracted common attention. To understand the performance of aerospike nozzle, a series of simulation tests on aerospike nozzle unit, which employed solid propellant, were completed. Results indicate that the thrust of aerospike nozzle decreases at beginning and then increases with an increase of backpressure, which is different from traditional bell nozzle. The experimental and numerical results indicate that the resultant force direction of the aerospike nozzle unit may change in a large range during the flight. A full travel optimization method, a parametric optimization essentially, is put forward in this paper, which is performed keeping maximizing total impulse and not restricted to a certain rated altitude. The process of building optimization model including computational procedure of the optimization is presented in detail.