Study Of Base Drag Prediction With Chamber Pressure At Super-Sonic Flow

The semi-empirical equation and commercial computational tool were used to predict the base drag of a guided missile with free-stream Mach numbers and chamber pressures, and the results were generally agree each other. Differences in flow characteristics and base drags were observed with over/under expansion conditions by the nozzle. Under the over-expansion condition, the base pressure decreased as the expansion fan was generated at upper region of the base, and base pressure decreased further with increasing free-stream Mach number as the expansion becomes strong. Under the under-expansion conditions, a shock wave was generated around the base by the influence of the nozzle flow, which increased the base pressure, and the effect increased as the chamber pressure increased. Under the same chamber pressure condition, as the free-stream Mach number increases, the characteristic that the base pressure decreases as the shock wave generated at the base moves downstream was observed.