Three-dimensional numerical thrust performance analysis of hydrogen fuel mixture rotating detonation engine with aerospike nozzle

The propulsive performance for an H₂/O₂ and H₂/Air rotating detonation engine (RDE) with conic aerospike nozzle has been estimated using three-dimensional numerical simulation with detailed chemical reaction model. The present paper provides the evaluation of the specific impulse (I_sp), pressure gain and the thrust coefficient for different micro-nozzle stagnation pressures and for two configurations of conic aerospike nozzle, open and choked aerospike. The simulations show that regardless of the nozzle, increase the micro-nozzles stagnation pressure increases the mass flow rate, the pre-detonation gases pressure and consequently the post-detonation pressure. This gain of pressure in the combustion chamber leads to a higher pressure thrust through the nozzle, improving the I_sp. It was also found that the choked nozzle increases the chamber time-averaged static pressure by 50–60% compared with the open nozzle, inducing higher performance for the same reason explained before.