Cooling system analysis of a clustered module aerospike for upper-stage applications

One of the obstacles in developing annular aerospike nozzles involves effectively managing thermal loads caused by the wide surface area exposed to high heat flux. A modular design is usually proposed as a solution, at the cost of performance reduction. In this framework, the present work focuses on the critical analysis of the design of a regenerative cooling system for a modular aerospike upper-stage LOX/CH4 liquid rocket engine, with a counter-flow cooling circuit fed by methane. Simplified heat transfer models are used to examine channel geometries, and the chosen design is validated through a conjugate heat transfer simulation. Results show that for the present nozzle size a good compromise between thermal management and pressure drop can be obtained, provided that the cooling channels design is suitably realized.