Formation of shocks within axisymmetric nozzles

Abstract

The formation of shocks within axisymmetric supersonic nozzles has received considerable attention in the past, both experimentally and computationally. The presence of undesirable oblique shocks can significantly alter the downstream flowfield, reduce the thrust efficiency, and affect both the external acoustic signature and base pressure. In this paper numerical simulations of axisymmetric supersonic nozzle flow have been accomplished using an axisymmetric version of the finite element method/flux corrected transport algorithm. The adaptive unstructured gridding and the conservative nonlinear FCT scheme predicted shock formation that agreed with experimental data.