Abstract

The contemporary significance of the Method of Characteristics (MOC) in the design of supersonic nozzles, a critical component in rocket propulsion systems and supersonic and hypersonic wind tunnels. The review explores the evolution of supersonic nozzle’s design, high-lighting key milestones and the continuous pursuit of efficiency in such systems. Various algorithms from Literature are properly described and replicated, leading to some findings that correlate with scientific knowledge of experimental testing. Minimum length, Sivells, Foelsch, Truncated Ideal Compressed (TIC) parabolas, dual-bell and aerospike are some of the design concepts implemented. Boundary-layer correction and the consideration of a thermally perfect gas are also considered in some designs. The manuscript also provides a comprehensive overview of modeling supersonic flow, including transonic solutions, quasi-1-D flow, the MOC, conservation equations and turbulence models.

Nomenclature: BL: Boundary Layer; CFD: Computational Fluid Dynamics; E-D: Expansion-Deflection; MNG: Multiple Grid Nozzle; MOC: Method of Characteristics; ODE: Ordinary Differential Equation; PDE: Partial Differential Equation; RANS: Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes; SST: Shear Stress Transport; TIC: Truncated Ideal Compressed; TOP: Thrust Optimized Parabolic