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Volume 12
Issue 2
10.3390/aerospace12020124
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Article

RANS Simulations of Advanced Nozzle Performance and Retro-Flow Interactions for Vertical Landing of Reusable Launch Vehicles

by
Giuseppe Scarlatella
1,*,
Jan Sieder-Katzmann
1,
Martin Propst
1,
Theodor Heutling
1,
Jannis Petersen
1,
Felix Weber
2,
Marco Portolani
3,
Marco Garutti
4,
Daniele Bianchi
2,
Dario Pastrone
3,
Andrea Ferrero
3,
Martin Tajmar
1 and
Christian Bach
1,*
1
Institute of Aerospace Engineering, Technische Universität Dresden, Marschnerstraße 32, 01397 Dresden, Germany
2
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMA), University of Rome “Sapienza”, Via Eudossiana 18, 00183 Rome, Italy
3
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (DIMEAS), Polytechnic University of Turin, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Turin, Italy
4
Department of Industrial Engineering (DII), University of Padua, Via 8 Febbraio 2, 35122 Padua, Italy
*
Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Aerospace 2025, 12(2), 124; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12020124
Submission received: 19 December 2024 / Revised: 27 January 2025 / Accepted: 3 February 2025 / Published: 6 February 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Space Propulsion: Advances and Challenges (3rd Volume))
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Abstract

In recent years, advanced nozzle concepts have attracted interest because of advancements in their technology readiness level and studies on applications to vertical take-off and landing reusable launch vehicles. This is ascribable to their intrinsic altitude compensation properties, which could mitigate the additional propellant cost resulting from the vertical landing manoeuvres based on retro-propulsion. Experimental and numerical campaigns at the Technical University of Dresden test the performance of annular-aerospike, dual-bell, and expansion-deflection nozzles compared with conventional bell-shaped nozzles in various subsonic counter-flow regimes and atmospheric conditions. The methods of investigation and a detailed description of the experimental and numerical results are reported. More specifically, the study offers a comparison between advanced and conventional nozzles, with a focus on nozzle performance through experiments and aerodynamic performance and retro-flow interaction through simulations. The flow topology that is established within the area of interaction between nozzle jets and counter-flows is detailed, with the advantages and limitations of each advanced nozzle in terms of adaptive performance. The numerical simulations confirm that advanced nozzles achieve altitude compensation in retro-flow configurations. Moreover, the distance obtained from the models for jet penetration into subsonic counter-flows is compatible with empirical formulations available in the literature.
Keywords: retro-propulsion; computational fluid dynamics; advanced nozzle concepts; vertical landing retro-propulsion; computational fluid dynamics; advanced nozzle concepts; vertical landing

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MDPI and ACS Style

Scarlatella, G.; Sieder-Katzmann, J.; Propst, M.; Heutling, T.; Petersen, J.; Weber, F.; Portolani, M.; Garutti, M.; Bianchi, D.; Pastrone, D.; et al. RANS Simulations of Advanced Nozzle Performance and Retro-Flow Interactions for Vertical Landing of Reusable Launch Vehicles. Aerospace 2025, 12, 124. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12020124

AMA Style

Scarlatella G, Sieder-Katzmann J, Propst M, Heutling T, Petersen J, Weber F, Portolani M, Garutti M, Bianchi D, Pastrone D, et al. RANS Simulations of Advanced Nozzle Performance and Retro-Flow Interactions for Vertical Landing of Reusable Launch Vehicles. Aerospace. 2025; 12(2):124. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12020124

Chicago/Turabian Style

Scarlatella, Giuseppe, Jan Sieder-Katzmann, Martin Propst, Theodor Heutling, Jannis Petersen, Felix Weber, Marco Portolani, Marco Garutti, Daniele Bianchi, Dario Pastrone, and et al. 2025. "RANS Simulations of Advanced Nozzle Performance and Retro-Flow Interactions for Vertical Landing of Reusable Launch Vehicles" Aerospace 12, no. 2: 124. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12020124

APA Style

Scarlatella, G., Sieder-Katzmann, J., Propst, M., Heutling, T., Petersen, J., Weber, F., Portolani, M., Garutti, M., Bianchi, D., Pastrone, D., Ferrero, A., Tajmar, M., & Bach, C. (2025). RANS Simulations of Advanced Nozzle Performance and Retro-Flow Interactions for Vertical Landing of Reusable Launch Vehicles. Aerospace, 12(2), 124. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace12020124

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