Rakhab C. Mehta

Experimental Investigation of Hypersonic Flow over Spiked Blunt Body: Hypersonic Flow Investigation over Spiked Blunt Body Rakhab C. Mehta

Experimental studies were carried out to measure the aerodynamic forces in the presence of the spike attached to the blunt body for the length to diameter ratio of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 and angle of attack up to 8 degree at Mach number 6. Five types of spikes, namely, conical, hemisphere, flat-face, hemisphere-disk and flat face-disk spikes were studied. The effect of conical and hemispherical spikes and flat faced-disk and a hemispherical-disk attached to a blunt nosed basic body has been investigated. The flow field was visualized with schlieren system. The coefficients of drag, lift and pitching moment were measured for different spike configurations using the six-component strain gauge balance. The influence of the spike shock wave generated from the spike which interacts with the reattachment shock was also investigated to understand the cause of drag reduction. Surface pressure distribution over the nose of the basic body was measured for all the cases of with and without spike at ? = 0 and 5 degree and Mach 6.