Fluid Mechanics & Aerodynamics

Fluid Mechanics & Aerodynamics

Experimental Investigation of the Effect of Side Jet Injection on Drag Reduction of a Spherical Blunt Nose with Spike in Supersonic Flow

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
vahid heidarpoor 1
abdolali haghiri 2
Hasan Mohammadkhani 3
mohsen talebpoor 4
1 Master's degree, Imam Hussein University, Tehran, Iran
2 Assistant Professor, Imam Hossein University, Tehran, Iran
3 Associate Professor, Imam Hossein University, Tehran, Iran
4 Researcher, Imam Hussein University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The use of spike and jet injection as suitable tools for reducing aerodynamic drag has been the focus of experts for several decades, and much research has been conducted on the effects of geometry, dimensions, type of spike, and jet injection. In this study, an experimental study was conducted in the three-purpose wind tunnel of the Qadr Aerodynamics Research Center on a hemispherical blunt nose with spike and side jet injection to investigate the flow field and the nose wave drag reduction. The experiments were conducted in the range of angles of attack of -2, 0, and 2 degrees at Mach number 1.9 and side jet injection in two positions. The measurements included Schlieren imaging, measuring the pressure distribution on the upper and lower surfaces of the blunt nose and the forces acting on it. The results indicate the favorable effect of side jet injection in attenuating the bow shock wave in front of the spike, reducing drag, and reducing the pressure on the blunt nose, especially in the position close to the tip of the spike. Also, by increasing the jet pressure from 5 to 7 bar, the increased jet penetration and swirling flow caused a change in the shock pattern and further attenuation of the cone wave, resulting in a further reduction in drag. At non-zero angles, the side jet was very effective and attenuated or even eliminated the reconnection wave on the blunt nose, ultimately resulting in a maximum 31% reduction in the drag of the blunt nose with spike.

Highlights

1. S. Manigandan, K. N. Sruthisree, “Numerical analysis of slotted aerospike for drag reduction”; International Conference on Recent Advances in Fluid and Thermal Sciences, 2019.

2. K. Shashank, K. Suzuki, “Effect of vortex-size around spike root and body base on possible hypersonic drag reduction”, The Seventh International Colloquium on Bluff Body Aerodynamics and Applications, Shanghai, China. 2012.

3. B. Sudarshan, S. M. V. Rao, G. Jagadeesh, “Effect of the axial cavity with an opposing high-pressure jet combination in a Mach 6 flow condition”,Acta Astronaut., Vol. 178, pp.335-348, 2021.

4. C. Ji, B. Liu, W. Huang, S.-B. Li, “Investigation on the drag reduction and thermal protection properties of the porous opposing jet in the supersonic flow: A parametric study with constant mass flow rate”, Aerospace Sci. Technology Vol. 118, 2021.

5. C. Ji, B. Liu, S-b Li, W. Huang, “Parametric investigation on drag reduction and thermal protection characteristics of the porous opposing jet in the hypersonic flow”, Aerospace Sci. Technol. Vol. 116, 2021. 

6. W. Zhang, “Investigations on shock wave active control of the hypersonic inlet and reduction of drag and heat flux for the blunt body”, Doctoral dissertation, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2022.

7. Q. Wu, H. Huang, Y. Zhao, “Simulations of heat and drag reduction of opposing jet in hypersonic flow”, J. Spacecr. Rockets Vol. 60, pp. 1574–1584, 2023.

8. H. Xu, Z. Tang, X. Li, and J. Ren, “Multi parameters control mechanism on drag and heat reduction of opposing jet”, AIAA No. AIAA 2139, 2024.

9. G. Guo, Q. Luo, and J. Wu, “Numerical study on drag and heat flux reduction induced by a counter flowing jet for rarefied hypersonic flow over a blunt body”, Phys. Fluids Vol. 36, 2024.

10. Z. weilin, T. Xing, S. Zhiwei, “Investigation of the drag reduction mechanism for a blunt forebody with opposing and side jets”, Physics of Fluids, Vol. 37, Issue 9, 22 pp, 2025.

11. Xu. Haonon, L. Xueying, Ren jing, “Angle-of-attack characteristics of opposing jet for improving drag and heat reduction”, Physics of Fluids, Vol. 36, Issue 7, 17 pp, 2024.

12. H. Yoon, K. Suzuki, “Numerical investigation of effect of the design parameters of the counter-flow jet for drag reduction in hypersonic low-Reynolds number regime”, Physics of Fluids, Vol. 36, Issue 3, 18 pp, 2024.

13. K. Hayashi, S. Aso, “A study on reduction of aerodynamic heating by opposing jet in supersonic flow”, J.J.s. Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Vol. 52, No. 600, pp.38-44, 2004.

14. Riggins, D. W., Nelson, H. F., and Johnson, E., “Blunt-body wave drag reduction using focused energy deposition”, AIAA. Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 460-467, 1999.

15. W. Zhang, B. Ding, Z. Shi, “Investigation of drag reduction mechanism for blunt bodies with plasma spikes”, Phys. Fluids Vol. 35, 2023.

16. L. Haibo, W. Liu, “Numerical simulation in influence of forward-facing cavity on aerodynamic heating of hypersonic vehicle”, Procedia Engineering. Vol. 29, pp. 4096-4100, 2012.

17. Y. Rajesh, U. Guven, “Aerodynamic heating of a hypersonic projectile with forward-facing ellipsoid cavity at nose”, J. Spacecraft and Rockets. Vol. 52, No. 1, pp.157-165, 2015.

18. Y. Rajesh, U. Guven, “Aerothermodynamics of a hypersonic vehicle with a forward facing parabolic cavity at nose”, J Aerospace Engineering. pp. 1863-1874, 2015.

19. Y. Liu, Z. Jiang, “Concept of Non-Ablative Thermal Protection, System for hypersonic, AIAA Journal, Vol. 51, No. 3, 2013.

20. R. Mehta, “Flow field computations over conical, disc and flat spiked body at Mach 6”; 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including The New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition. 2009.

21. C. h. Schnepf, O. Wysocki, “Wave drag reduction due to a self-aligning aero disk”, Progress in Flight Physics. Vol. 7, pp.475-488, 2015.

22. M. B. Gerdroodbary, S. M. Hosseinalipour, “Numerical simulation of hypersonic flow over highly blunted cones with spike”, Acta Astronautic. Vol. 67, pp.180-193, 2010.

23. M. Y. Ahmed, N. Qin, “Recent advances in the aerothermodynamics of spiked hypersonic vehicles”, Progress in Aerospace Sciences. Vol. 47, pp.425-449, 2011.

24. N. Motoyama, K. Mihara, “Thermal protection and drag reduction with use of spike in hypersonic flow”, In10th AIAA/NAL-NASDA-ISAS International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference, 2001.

25. R. Kalimuthu, R. C. Mehta, “Experimental investigation on spiked body in hypersonic flow”, The Aeronautical Journal. Vol. 112, pp.593-598, 2008.

26. V. Kulkarni, V. Menez, “Effectiveness of aerospike for drag reduction on a blunt cone in hypersonic flow”, J Spacecraft and Rockets. Vol. 47, pp.542-544, 2010.

27. M. Tahani, M. S. Karimi, M. Motlagh, “Numerical investigation of drag and heat reduction in hypersonic spiked blunt bodies”, Heat and Mass Transfer. Vol. 49, pp. 1369-1384, 2013.

28. M. Ajmal, N. Durrani, H. A. Saeed, “Design of spiked hemispherical body in hypersonic flow”; In 2015 12th International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technology, pp. 453-459, 2015.

29.Yaghoubnejad Mohsen (2014) Numerical investigation of the effect of aerodisk on the aerodynamic drag coefficient of a beveled body in a supersonic flow field. 14th International Conference of the Iranian Aerospace Society.

30. Wang, Z. G., Sun, X.W. Huang, “Experimental investigation on drag and heat flux reduction in supersonic/hypersonic flows: a survey”, Acta Astronautica. Vol. 129, pp.95-110, 2016.

31. C. Schnepf, O. Wysocki, “Wave drag reduction with a self-aligning aerodisk on a missile configuration”, Progress in Flight Physics.Vol. 9, pp.149-172, 2017.

32. P. V. Tembhurnikar, A. T. Jadhav, D. Sahoo , “Effect of Intermediate Aerodisk Mounted Sharp Tip Spike on the Drag Reduction over a Hemispherical Body at Mach 2.0”, FME Transactions 48, pp. 779-786, 2020.

33. S. Mohandas, R. K. Siddharth, B. John, “Reduction of wave drag on parameterized blunt bodies using spikes with varied tip geometries”, Acta Astronautica, 160, pp.25-35, 2019.

34. M. Hasani, A. Haghiri, M. Islamy, “Investigation of spike length on wave drag reduction of standard model in hypersonic flow”, .J Solid and Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 10,No.1 pp.177-192, 2020. (In Persian). https://dor.isc.ac/dor/20.1001.1.23223278.1400.10.1.4.9

35. Z. Wang, T. Long, B. Zhang, R. Shi, “Drag-aeroheating multi-objective optimization design of spike-aerodisk-channel for hypersonic vehicles”, Aerospace Sci. Technology, 2025.

36. S. kumar, V. Kulkarni, S. P. Jammy, “Aerothermodynamic assessment of spiked configuration for drag reduction at hypersonic speeds”, journal of Aerospace Engineering, Vol. 33, 2020.

37. S. Rashid, F. Nawaz, R. Riaz, “Review of wave drag reduction techniques: Advances in active, passive, and hybrid flow control”, Aerospace Sci. Technology, Vol. 236, 2024.

38. J. WANG, J. LI, “Drag and heat reduction performance of a dual-jet spike configuration in hypersonic flow”, Acta Aerodynamica Sinica, Vol 42, 2024.

39. W. F. Wang, Z. Q. Wang, M. Mei, X. Y. Yuan, “Drag reduction in hypersonic flows with viscous compressible fluid–solid coupling: The role of elastic spikes and lateral jets”, Phys. Fluids Vol. 36, 2024.

40. W. Zhang, X. Tian, “Investigation of the drag reduction mechanism for a blunt forebody with opposing and side jets”, Physics of Fluids, Vol. 37, 2025.

41. X. Chen, C.-S. Zhou, Li Yingkun, “Research on Effects of Lateral Jet on Drag and Heat Reduction Characteristics of Spike in Supersonic Flows”, Journal of Propulsion Technology, Vol. 39(2), 2018.

42. M. Jia, S. Chen, J. Li, W. Yuan, “Uncertainty and sensitivity study on lateral jet interaction for hypersonic missile”, J. Spacecr. Rockets, Vol. 61, p.p.  458 – 472, 2024.

43. G. Han, Z. Jiang, “Hypersonic Flow Field Reconfiguration and Drag Reduction of
Blunt Body with Spikes and Sideward Jets”, International Journal of Aerospace Engineering,
Vol. 2018, 16 pages.

44. M. Gilinsky, C. Washington, “Spike-Nosed Bodies and Forward Injected Jets in Supersonic Flow”, AIAA 02-3918, 2002.

45. L. Zhu, X. Chen, X. Tian, J. Song, H. Li, ” Assessment on jet direction effect on drag and heat reduction efficiency for hypersonic vehicles”, Aerospace Science and Technology 106, 2020.

46. P. Zeng, S. Chen, J. Li, “Numerical simulation of heat reduction on blunt-headed bodies by combined scheme of drag reduction spike and annular jets”, Acta Aeronaut., Vol. 44, 2023.

47. Vahid Heydarpour, Hassan Mohammadkhani (2017), "Numerical investigation of the aerodynamic effect of a side jet on a spike-equipped beveled nose in supersonic flow", International Conference on Modern Research in 21st Century Engineering Sciences.

48. Vahid Heydarpour, Hassan Mohammadkhani (2017), "Numerical investigation of the aerodynamic effect of a side jet on a spike-equipped beveled nose in supersonic flow", International Conference on Modern Research in 21st Century Engineering Sciences.

 

Keywords
Supersonic Wind Tunnel
Blunt Noses
Aerospike
Side jet Injection
Drag Reduction

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1. S. Manigandan, K. N. Sruthisree, “Numerical analysis of slotted aerospike for drag reduction”; International Conference on Recent Advances in Fluid and Thermal Sciences, 2019.
2. K. Shashank, K. Suzuki, “Effect of vortex-size around spike root and body base on possible hypersonic drag reduction”, The Seventh International Colloquium on Bluff Body Aerodynamics and Applications, Shanghai, China. 2012.
3. B. Sudarshan, S. M. V. Rao, G. Jagadeesh, “Effect of the axial cavity with an opposing high-pressure jet combination in a Mach 6 flow condition”,Acta Astronaut., Vol. 178, pp.335-348, 2021.
4. C. Ji, B. Liu, W. Huang, S.-B. Li, “Investigation on the drag reduction and thermal protection properties of the porous opposing jet in the supersonic flow: A parametric study with constant mass flow rate”, Aerospace Sci. Technology Vol. 118, 2021.
5. C. Ji, B. Liu, S-b Li, W. Huang, “Parametric investigation on drag reduction and thermal protection characteristics of the porous opposing jet in the hypersonic flow”, Aerospace Sci. Technol. Vol. 116, 2021. 
6. W. Zhang, “Investigations on shock wave active control of the hypersonic inlet and reduction of drag and heat flux for the blunt body”, Doctoral dissertation, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2022.
7. Q. Wu, H. Huang, Y. Zhao, “Simulations of heat and drag reduction of opposing jet in hypersonic flow”, J. Spacecr. Rockets Vol. 60, pp. 1574–1584, 2023.
8. H. Xu, Z. Tang, X. Li, and J. Ren, “Multi parameters control mechanism on drag and heat reduction of opposing jet”, AIAA No. AIAA 2139, 2024.
9. G. Guo, Q. Luo, and J. Wu, “Numerical study on drag and heat flux reduction induced by a counter flowing jet for rarefied hypersonic flow over a blunt body”, Phys. Fluids Vol. 36, 2024.
10. Z. weilin, T. Xing, S. Zhiwei, “Investigation of the drag reduction mechanism for a blunt forebody with opposing and side jets”, Physics of Fluids, Vol. 37, Issue 9, 22 pp, 2025.
11. Xu. Haonon, L. Xueying, Ren jing, “Angle-of-attack characteristics of opposing jet for improving drag and heat reduction”, Physics of Fluids, Vol. 36, Issue 7, 17 pp, 2024.
12. H. Yoon, K. Suzuki, “Numerical investigation of effect of the design parameters of the counter-flow jet for drag reduction in hypersonic low-Reynolds number regime”, Physics of Fluids, Vol. 36, Issue 3, 18 pp, 2024.
13. K. Hayashi, S. Aso, “A study on reduction of aerodynamic heating by opposing jet in supersonic flow”, J.J.s. Aeronautical and Space Sciences, Vol. 52, No. 600, pp.38-44, 2004.
14. Riggins, D. W., Nelson, H. F., and Johnson, E., “Blunt-body wave drag reduction using focused energy deposition”, AIAA. Vol. 37, No. 4, pp. 460-467, 1999.
15. W. Zhang, B. Ding, Z. Shi, “Investigation of drag reduction mechanism for blunt bodies with plasma spikes”, Phys. Fluids Vol. 35, 2023.
16. L. Haibo, W. Liu, “Numerical simulation in influence of forward-facing cavity on aerodynamic heating of hypersonic vehicle”, Procedia Engineering. Vol. 29, pp. 4096-4100, 2012.
17. Y. Rajesh, U. Guven, “Aerodynamic heating of a hypersonic projectile with forward-facing ellipsoid cavity at nose”, J. Spacecraft and Rockets. Vol. 52, No. 1, pp.157-165, 2015.
18. Y. Rajesh, U. Guven, “Aerothermodynamics of a hypersonic vehicle with a forward facing parabolic cavity at nose”, J Aerospace Engineering. pp. 1863-1874, 2015.
19. Y. Liu, Z. Jiang, “Concept of Non-Ablative Thermal Protection, System for hypersonic, AIAA Journal, Vol. 51, No. 3, 2013.
20. R. Mehta, “Flow field computations over conical, disc and flat spiked body at Mach 6”; 47th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including The New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition. 2009.
21. C. h. Schnepf, O. Wysocki, “Wave drag reduction due to a self-aligning aero disk”, Progress in Flight Physics. Vol. 7, pp.475-488, 2015.
22. M. B. Gerdroodbary, S. M. Hosseinalipour, “Numerical simulation of hypersonic flow over highly blunted cones with spike”, Acta Astronautic. Vol. 67, pp.180-193, 2010.
23. M. Y. Ahmed, N. Qin, “Recent advances in the aerothermodynamics of spiked hypersonic vehicles”, Progress in Aerospace Sciences. Vol. 47, pp.425-449, 2011.
24. N. Motoyama, K. Mihara, “Thermal protection and drag reduction with use of spike in hypersonic flow”, In10th AIAA/NAL-NASDA-ISAS International Space Planes and Hypersonic Systems and Technologies Conference, 2001.
25. R. Kalimuthu, R. C. Mehta, “Experimental investigation on spiked body in hypersonic flow”, The Aeronautical Journal. Vol. 112, pp.593-598, 2008.
26. V. Kulkarni, V. Menez, “Effectiveness of aerospike for drag reduction on a blunt cone in hypersonic flow”, J Spacecraft and Rockets. Vol. 47, pp.542-544, 2010.
27. M. Tahani, M. S. Karimi, M. Motlagh, “Numerical investigation of drag and heat reduction in hypersonic spiked blunt bodies”, Heat and Mass Transfer. Vol. 49, pp. 1369-1384, 2013.
28. M. Ajmal, N. Durrani, H. A. Saeed, “Design of spiked hemispherical body in hypersonic flow”; In 2015 12th International Bhurban Conference on Applied Sciences and Technology, pp. 453-459, 2015.
29.Yaghoubnejad Mohsen (2014) Numerical investigation of the effect of aerodisk on the aerodynamic drag coefficient of a beveled body in a supersonic flow field. 14th International Conference of the Iranian Aerospace Society.
30. Wang, Z. G., Sun, X.W. Huang, “Experimental investigation on drag and heat flux reduction in supersonic/hypersonic flows: a survey”, Acta Astronautica. Vol. 129, pp.95-110, 2016.
31. C. Schnepf, O. Wysocki, “Wave drag reduction with a self-aligning aerodisk on a missile configuration”, Progress in Flight Physics.Vol. 9, pp.149-172, 2017.
32. P. V. Tembhurnikar, A. T. Jadhav, D. Sahoo , “Effect of Intermediate Aerodisk Mounted Sharp Tip Spike on the Drag Reduction over a Hemispherical Body at Mach 2.0”, FME Transactions 48, pp. 779-786, 2020.
33. S. Mohandas, R. K. Siddharth, B. John, “Reduction of wave drag on parameterized blunt bodies using spikes with varied tip geometries”, Acta Astronautica, 160, pp.25-35, 2019.
34. M. Hasani, A. Haghiri, M. Islamy, “Investigation of spike length on wave drag reduction of standard model in hypersonic flow”, .J Solid and Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 10,No.1 pp.177-192, 2020. (In Persian). https://dor.isc.ac/dor/20.1001.1.23223278.1400.10.1.4.9
35. Z. Wang, T. Long, B. Zhang, R. Shi, “Drag-aeroheating multi-objective optimization design of spike-aerodisk-channel for hypersonic vehicles”, Aerospace Sci. Technology, 2025.
36. S. kumar, V. Kulkarni, S. P. Jammy, “Aerothermodynamic assessment of spiked configuration for drag reduction at hypersonic speeds”, journal of Aerospace Engineering, Vol. 33, 2020.
37. S. Rashid, F. Nawaz, R. Riaz, “Review of wave drag reduction techniques: Advances in active, passive, and hybrid flow control”, Aerospace Sci. Technology, Vol. 236, 2024.
38. J. WANG, J. LI, “Drag and heat reduction performance of a dual-jet spike configuration in hypersonic flow”, Acta Aerodynamica Sinica, Vol 42, 2024.
39. W. F. Wang, Z. Q. Wang, M. Mei, X. Y. Yuan, “Drag reduction in hypersonic flows with viscous compressible fluid–solid coupling: The role of elastic spikes and lateral jets”, Phys. Fluids Vol. 36, 2024.
40. W. Zhang, X. Tian, “Investigation of the drag reduction mechanism for a blunt forebody with opposing and side jets”, Physics of Fluids, Vol. 37, 2025.
41. X. Chen, C.-S. Zhou, Li Yingkun, “Research on Effects of Lateral Jet on Drag and Heat Reduction Characteristics of Spike in Supersonic Flows”, Journal of Propulsion Technology, Vol. 39(2), 2018.
42. M. Jia, S. Chen, J. Li, W. Yuan, “Uncertainty and sensitivity study on lateral jet interaction for hypersonic missile”, J. Spacecr. Rockets, Vol. 61, p.p.  458 – 472, 2024.
43. G. Han, Z. Jiang, “Hypersonic Flow Field Reconfiguration and Drag Reduction of
Blunt Body with Spikes and Sideward Jets”, International Journal of Aerospace Engineering,
Vol. 2018, 16 pages.
44. M. Gilinsky, C. Washington, “Spike-Nosed Bodies and Forward Injected Jets in Supersonic Flow”, AIAA 02-3918, 2002.
45. L. Zhu, X. Chen, X. Tian, J. Song, H. Li, ” Assessment on jet direction effect on drag and heat reduction efficiency for hypersonic vehicles”, Aerospace Science and Technology 106, 2020.
46. P. Zeng, S. Chen, J. Li, “Numerical simulation of heat reduction on blunt-headed bodies by combined scheme of drag reduction spike and annular jets”, Acta Aeronaut., Vol. 44, 2023.
47. Vahid Heydarpour, Hassan Mohammadkhani (2017), "Numerical investigation of the aerodynamic effect of a side jet on a spike-equipped beveled nose in supersonic flow", International Conference on Modern Research in 21st Century Engineering Sciences.
48. Vahid Heydarpour, Hassan Mohammadkhani (2017), "Numerical investigation of the aerodynamic effect of a side jet on a spike-equipped beveled nose in supersonic flow", International Conference on Modern Research in 21st Century Engineering Sciences.
 
Fluid Mechanics & Aerodynamics
Volume 14, Issue 2 - Serial Number 36
Autumn and Winter
February 2026
Pages 25-36

  • Receive Date 18 December 2025
  • Revise Date 28 January 2026
  • Accept Date 05 February 2026
  • Publish Date 20 February 2026