A CFD study on the Supersonic Flow through a Dual Bell Nozzle

Dual bell nozzle is one of the most promising choices among the altitude adaptation nozzles. This facilitates having a forced, steady and symmetrical separation at lower altitudes and a controlled flow separation at the wall inflection point which prevents the generation of dangerous side loads. In order to ensure the attached flow in the second bell, a clear understanding of the flow transition is required. Hence the motivation of our study is to arrive at an optimum profile for the second bell, which allows a sudden and controlled transition. In this work, we designed the first bell using the conventional MoC and the second bell using an inverse MoC, imposing a pressure gradient constraint. A CFD analysis is also carried out. It is found that the separation point is near the inflection point within one fourth of the extension length or it is near the exit.