HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR AN AEROSPIKE NOZZLE TO PROVIDE OPTIMAL OPERATION AT DIFFERENT FLIGHT ALTITUDES?
The phrase ‘optimal operation’ refers here to optimal expansion of the combustion gases which results in maximum thrust. This means that the pressure of the nozzle exhaust is the same as the ambient pressure thereby eliminating the (P-Pa) term in the thrust equation. In a bell nozzle, the exit pressure of the working gases are fixed by the nozzle geometry. With an aerospike nozzle, since there is no hard outer surface in which the gases expand, the gas expansion varies to match the current atmospheric pressure at all altitudes. Therefore, the performance is optimal for all altitudes of the nozzle flight. The combustion occurs in an enclosed chamber, like in a conventional bell nozzle engine. The hot gasses are accelerated to low supersonic speed in an internal expansion section. In this part of the engine, the flow is still totally enclosed. A way to visuallize it is to imagine the gasses moving between two opposite walls which are coming closer to each other and then beginning to sepa
The phrase ‘optimal operation’ refers here to optimal expansion of the combustion gases which results in maximum thrust. This means that the pressure of the nozzle exhaust is the same as the ambient pressure thereby eliminating the (P-Pa) term in the thrust equation. In a bell nozzle, the exit pressure of the working gases are fixed by the nozzle geometry. With an aerospike nozzle, since there is no hard outer surface in which the gases expand, the gas expansion varies to match the current atmospheric pressure at all altitudes. Therefore, the performance is optimal for all altitudes of the nozzle flight. The combustion occurs in an enclosed chamber, like in a conventional bell nozzle engine. The hot gasses are accelerated to low supersonic speed in an internal expansion section. In this part of the engine, the flow is still totally enclosed. A way to visuallize it is to imagine the gasses moving between two opposite walls which are coming closer to each other and then beginning to sepa
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