Drag-reducing Aerospike
A drag-reducing aerospike is a device (see nose cone design) used to reduce the forebody pressure aerodynamic drag of blunt bodies at supersonic speeds. The aerospike creates a detached shock ahead of the body. Between the shock and the forebody a zone of recirculating flow occurs which acts like a more streamlined forebody profile, reducing the drag. Development This concept was used on the UGM-96 Trident I and is estimated to have increased the range by 550 km. The Trident aerospike consists of a flat circular plate mounted on an extensible boom which is deployed shortly after the missile breaks through the surface of the water after launch from the submarine. The use of the aerospike allowed a much blunter nose shape, providing increased internal volume for payload and propulsion without increasing the drag. This was required because the Trident I C-4 was fitted with a third propulsion stage to achieve the desired increase in range over the Poseidon C-3 missile it ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  

Aerospike Detail
Aerospike may refer to: * Aerospike engine, a rocket engine without a traditional rocket nozzle * Drag-reducing aerospike, a device which reduces drag on missiles by creating a detached shock above the missile * Aerospike (database), an open-source noSQL database ** Aerospike (company), a technology company based in Mountain View, California, US {{disambiguation ...
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]