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Computational Parametric Study and Live Firing Validation of Base-Bleed Exit

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Article in Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets · November 2022

DOI: 10.2514/1.a35451

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 JOURNAL OF SPACECRAFT AND ROCKETS

Computational Parametric Study and Live Firing Validation

of Base-Bleed Exit Configuration

Mahmoud M. Aziz,∗ Ahmed Z. Ibrahim,† Ahmed M. Riad,‡ and Mahmoud Y. M. Ahmed§

Military Technical College, Cairo 11766, Egypt
[Link]
Base bleed, along with boattailing, is widely confirmed to be an efficient technique for drag reduction of
projectiles. It is believed that the flow pattern at the projectile base, hence the level of drag reduction, is
dependent on the base-bleed exit configuration design. It was also shown that bleeding from annular slots
overperformed that from a single central orifice. However, central orifices are required for practical issues and
may not be completely eliminated. The effect of simultaneous bleeding from the central orifice and annular slots was
not adequately explored before. In addition, the impact of annular slot design on level of drag reduction was not
thoroughly clarified in the available open literature. The objective of the present study was to systematically
address these two gaps. Following parameterization of the bleed exit configuration, a set of three-dimensional
computational simulations are conducted to find the design that yields the maximum drag reduction. A set of live
Downloaded by [Link] on November 2, 2022 | [Link] | DOI: 10.2514/1.A35451

firing experiments are conducted to assess the validity of simulation results. Based on parametric study results, the
impact of bleed exit configuration on base flow pattern, base pressure, and total drag coefficient is explained. The
optimized bleed configuration was found to yield a further drag reduction up to 5% compared to the baseline
configuration, including a single central orifice.

I. Introduction bleeding rate but also bleeding pattern has a significant impact on
drag reduction level [24]. Even minor changes to bleed exit configu-
E XTENDING the range of artillery projectiles is a key way of
enhancing its effectiveness. Projectile range can be extended by
many methods [1], such as increasing muzzle velocity; boosted
ration were confirmed to have an impact on drag reduction [25].
Thus, a number of studies were devoted to assess the impact of exit
(rocket-assisted) projectile; or by improved ballistics, including drag configuration on level of drag reduction via base bleeding. Using
numerical simulations, Cavalleri and Posey [26] compared central
reduction or using subcalibers. Drag reduction can be achieved either
orifice and annular (edge) slots; annular injection was found more
by forebody pressure drag reduction through improving projectile
effective than central injection. This was confirmed in the set of
shape or by base drag reduction through boattailing or increasing the
numerical studies conducted by Yu et al. [27,28] at different injection
base pressure [2]. Physically, the flow pressure at the base is reduced
rate values. Finally, Zhou et al. [29] confirmed that base pressure
due to creation of a recirculation region engulfed by the free shear
increases monotonically with injection rate using annular slots. The
layer originating at the projectile base corner (Fig. 1a). The base
more recent researches on base bleed addressed a number of detailed
pressure can be increased using passive and active devices. Ventilated
aspects on base-bleed function, including transients of muzzle exit
cavities and multistep configurations are passive devices that can [30–32] and postcombustion [33], chemical composition [34–37],
yield 10–20% and 25–50% reduction in base drag, respectively and structural rigidity [38,39] of base-bleed grain and its operation
[3–6], whereas streamwise slotted cavity is a passive device that under projectile spin [40], as well as the use of advanced simula-
was found to yield insignificant drag reduction [7]. Active base drag tions [41].
reduction devices include external burning [8–11] and base bleed. A The superiority of annular slots over central orifices is clearly
combination of base-bleed unit and boattailing is the most common established based on previous studies. However, it might be imprac-
base drag reduction approach [12,13]. tical to eliminate central orifice, as it is used for grain ignition
The base-bleed unit includes a propellant grain of various shapes purposes. In such cases, assuming no bleeding from the “already-
[14]. Upon burning of grain, the generated gases that exit the projec- there” central orifice may not be accurate. To the authors’ knowledge
tile into the base region increase the local base pressure, and hence of the open literature, the two following gaps can be addressed. The
reduce the total drag along with a slight negative impact on projectile first gap is the impact of simultaneous bleeding from a central orifice
dispersion at target location [15]. Upon gas exit (bleeding), the and annular slots on drag reduction. Although previous studies agree
primary recirculation region (PRR) is shifted downstream such that on the fact that an annular slot is better than a central orifice [26–29],
a smaller recirculation region is created, a secondary recirculation there are cases where a central orifice exists for other design objec-
region (SRR) (Fig. 1b). tives. The simultaneous action of annular slots and central orifice was
Base flow features with central base bleeding are explained thor- not studied before in the open literature. The other gap is the impact of
oughly in the flow visualization experiments by the research group of annular slot location and shape on the level of drag reduction. In
Dutton et al. [16–20]. The level of drag reduction is confirmed to be previous studies, it is briefly and implicitly agreed that an annular slot
governed by the rate of gas bleeding [21,22] that is in turn dictated by placed close to the base rim enhances the drag reduction capability of
the pressure difference at exit [16,23]. It was also shown that not only the base-bleed device. However, a systematic study to address the
impact of slot design parameters has not yet been conducted.
Received 17 April 2022; revision received 10 July 2022; accepted for Thus, the objectives of this study were 1) to study the impact of
publication 30 September 2022; published online 31 October 2022. Copyright simultaneous bleeding from a central orifice and annular slots; 2) to
© 2022 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc. illustrate the dependence of drag reduction level on slot design
All rights reserved. All requests for copying and permission to reprint parameters, namely, angular span and radial location for a given slot
should be submitted to CCC at [Link]; employ the eISSN area; and finally, 3) to define the base exit configuration (including
1533-6794 to initiate your request. See also AIAA Rights and Permissions both annular slots and central orifice) that yields the minimum drag
[Link]/randp.
*Ph.D. Student, Mechanical Engineering Department.
for a total exit area. These objectives are sought by conducting a
†
Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department. parametric study using three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simula-
‡
Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department. tions. The use of live firing total drag coefficient as a measure of
§
Associate Professor, Aerospace Engineering Department; mahmoud. base-bleed impact is widely confirmed [6,21,22,28,40,42]. Hence, to
yehia@[Link]. Member AIAA. validate the simulation results, a set of projectiles for a baseline
Article in Advance / 1
 2 Article in Advance / AZIZ ET AL.

Fig. 1 Features of supersonic flow past a) projectile with blunt base and b) projectile with base bleed.

configuration is manufactured and fired. Total drag coefficient for The range of each parameter is defined based on geometric con-
each round is estimated based on real flight data, and their mean is straints of the base available space enclosed between the central
compared with drag coefficients based on simulations at different orifice and outer rim. Hence, the mean radial location R is varied
Mach numbers. from about 22 to 72% of the base radius, whereas the angular span θ
The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. Case study is varied from 4.5 to 45 deg. Eventually, 117 samples are selected
projectile with base bleed is introduced next, and its features are from this two-dimensional (2-D) design space using full factorial
explained. Next, parameterization of the base bleed and setup for sampling. After eliminating the nonphysical samples, 28 samples are
numerical simulations is illustrated. Results of the parametric study adopted; each represents a distinct base design in addition to the
are then illustrated and discussed, and the paper finalizes with the baseline design (case 29). The samples are confirmed to be evenly
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main conclusions. distributed and space filling in the 2-D design space. Configurations
of all designs are compared in a compact form in Fig. 3b, whereas the
values of the associated design parameters are listed in Table 1.
II. Case Study and Methodology
A. Case Study C. Drag Estimation Technique: Computational Fluid Dynamics
In this work, the baseline projectile with base bleed through a central Flow Simulation
orifice is studied. Figure 2a shows the relative dimensions of the For all cases involved in the parametric study, the computational
projectile in calibers. The canister at the projectile base (Fig. 2b) domain is taken as one-eighth of the full 3-D domain, as shown in
contains a 1.3 kg composite propellant grain (1∶35.7 of the whole Fig. 4a. Figure 4b displays the symmetry plane showing the grid
projectile mass). It has the form of a slotted tube (Fig. 2c) that is comprising structured quadrilateral cells. The domain extends in
inhibited from outer surfaces only and burns within 30 s starting from upstream, downstream, and lateral directions by 3L; 5L, and 3.5L,
muzzle exit, yielding gas bleeding flow from the 0.28D central orifice. respectively, where L is the projectile length. The grid is clustered to
enhance spatial resolution at areas of interest in the domain.
B. Geometry Parameterization The pressure far-field boundary is set to the uniform upstream flow
In the present study, a small modification is made to the baseline with defined static pressure and Mach number. Pressure is set to the
canister. Based on the recommendation of Kubberud and Oye [25], a standard sea-level value at different Mach values. The base-bleed exit
thin rim is added, as it yields further drag reduction of base-bleed is defined as mass flow inlet with velocity satisfying the real flow
device. The base-bleed exit is divided into two ports, a central circular rates of gases in projectiles. The inlet flow conditions depend on the
orifice and four identical, evenly distributed annular slots. Figure 3a time and the position of the projectile along its trajectory [43]. The
illustrates one-eighth of the base geometry showing the area of the symmetric boundary is applied to the two side planes of the domain,
central orifice and the annular slot exit area. The former (which radius whereas no-slip conditions are set to the solid projectile surfaces. Air
is A, Fig. 3a) is fixed at 40% of that of the baseline projectile to ensure is treated as an ideal gas, whereas the hot bleeding gases are defined
successful base-bleed unit ignition. Because of fixed annular slot based on data reported in [44]. The steady Reynolds-averaged
area, the slots can be fully defined using two independent parameters, Navier–Stokes system of equations is solved using a second-order
namely, the mean radial location R and the angular span θ as shown in spatial discretization scheme available in a commercial computa-
Fig. 3a. Different annular slot configurations can be obtained by tional fluid dynamics (CFD) solver platform [45]. Two-equation
varying R and θ independently. turbulence models have been successfully implemented in similar

Fig. 2 Geometric details of the baseline case study projectile.

 Article in Advance / AZIZ ET AL. 3
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Fig. 3 Details of parametric study: a) Parameterization of base-bleed exit configuration and b) geometries of base-bleed exit configurations.

simulations [42,46–48]. The renormalization group k–ε turbulence resolution that ensures a grid-independent solution. The coarsest grid
model is adopted here for its suitability for external flows around consists of 54,300 cells, and the finest one consists of 85,000 cells.
complicated geometries involving jet flows [45]. Figure 5 shows the evolution of drag coefficient on the baseline
Grid sensitivity check is conducted on the baseline projectile with projectile with grid cell count normalized to that of the course one;
central circular orifice, model 29, exposed to Mach 1.5 freestream both inert and active base-bleed cases are considered. The second
with active base bleed (BB on) and inert base bleed (BB off). The finest grid with 72,300 cells (indicated by solid markers) is adopted
2-D axisymmetric version of the domain is assessed to obtain the because no significant improvement is obtained (less than one drag
count) with further increase in the number of cells. The discretized
one-eighth 3-D domain is generated by rotating the chosen 2-D grid
Table 1 Design parameter around the projectile axis by 45 deg with 10 divisions in the circum-
values in the parametric study ferential direction. Finally, the corresponding 3-D grid includes
Parameters 714,500 cells.
Case θ, deg R, mm
D. Firing Test Setup
1 40.5 56.8
2 9 50.5 Five rounds of the baseline projectile are prepared for live firing
3 4.5 38.5 test. A gun of the same caliber and with barrel length of 39D is used in
4 4.5 35.5 the firing tests at a firing angle of 45 deg for all rounds. A radar
5 22.5 52 tracking system is used to determine the trajectory parameters of the
6 9 46 projectile, relative to the gun muzzle. The tracking system consists of
7 4.5 34 a monopulse Doppler radar antenna, elevation and azimuth controller
8 9 43
9 18 44.5
for tracking, Doppler radar analyzer, muzzle flash detector, and
10 13.5 43 interfaced computer with software controller; elements of similar
11 9 38.5 systems are schematically shown in Fig. 6. The system is calibrated
12 27 43 prior to tests by firing a calibrated projectile of the same caliber and
13 18 41 well-defined trajectory profile.
14 9 35 The flash detector sets the reference time for measurements as the
15 13.5 35.5 moment of projectile leaving the muzzle. Based on Doppler princi-
16 9 39.5
ple, the antenna captures the projectile velocity and its components,
17 31.5 37
18 22.5 35
V i ∶ui ; vi ; wi , every 1 ms. Software controller is fed with projectile
19 9 27 mass m and meteorological data, including the profiles of atmos-
20 18 31 pheric density ρi and temperature T i . The software also integrates
21 13.5 28 the recorded projectile velocities to yield projectile position during
22 27 29 flight, relative to the gun,
xi ; yi ; zi , at every time instant. It then
23 18 26 calculates the instantaneous Mach values Mi of the projectile and
24 22.5 25
the corresponding values of drag coefficient CDi , respectively, using
25 18 22
26 27 22 the relations [48,49]:
27 22.5 20.5
28 31.5 19
V i  V i−1  4m
ui − ui−1 
29 45 17.5 Mi  p




CDi 
40 T i ρi Sref
ui  ui−1 
xi − xi−1 
 4 Article in Advance / AZIZ ET AL.

a) Structured 3-D grid on one-eighth 3D domain

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3.5
L

3L L 5L

b) Grid on symmetry plane

Fig. 4 Details of the computational domain.

0.2761 0.1831
BB off
0.2759
BB on 0.183
0.2757
CDo, base bleed off

CDo, base bleed on

0.1829
0.2755

0.2753 0.1828

0.2751
0.1827
0.2749
0.1826
0.2747

0.2745 0.1825
0.9 1 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5
Normalized cell count
Fig. 5 Grid independence check results.
 Article in Advance / AZIZ ET AL. 5
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Fig. 6 Scheme of the firing test facility elements.

III. Results and Discussions Good agreement can be noticed between the computational results
A. Results of Live Firing Tests and the experimental measurements of Ref. [50]. The maximum
absolute differences between the measured and computed total drag
Figure 7 illustrates the firing results of a sample projectile. The
coefficients are found to be 5.2 and 6.8% for dummy and active BB,
figure shows the trajectory profile and flight speed normalized with
respectively, at a Mach number of 2.68.
their respective maximum values. Table 2 lists the drag coefficients at The other set of live firings are those conducted by the authors,
different Mach numbers for the five rounds examined. The table also with the results shown in Sec. III.A. Figure 9 illustrates the computa-
shows the standard deviation of these values at each Mach number. tional values and the mean values of the live firing measurements of
The relatively high deviation at the peak Mach value may be owed to the total drag coefficient vs Mach number. The maximum absolute
uncertainty in projectile speed measurements due to muzzle exit difference between the two sets of values does not exceed 2.75%. It
transients. can be argued that the CFD simulations yield a satisfactory accuracy
for the problem in concern. The results of the computational para-
B. Results of CFD Model Validation metric study are discussed next.
Results of two sets of live firing tests are adopted to assess the
validity of the CFD model. The first set are the live firing measure- C. Results of the Computational Parametric Study Variation of Drag
ments carried out by Hwang and Kim [50] on the 155 mm K307 Coefficient with Base-Bleed Exit Configuration
projectile model with a dummy and active BB unit. In these tests, the In this section, the results of the parametric study carried out on
elevation and muzzle velocity are kept constant at 50 deg and at base-bleed exit configurations are presented and discussed. Table 3
900 m/s, respectively, and the bleeding exit is the central orifice with a lists the values of drag coefficient based on the CFD simulation
diameter of 44 mm. These tests are reproduced computationally; results for all design configurations at a Mach number of 1.8. The
Fig. 8 compares the experimental measurements of Ref. [50] and designs are arranged in ascending order according to the correspond-
the computed total drag coefficient results at different Mach numbers ing value of drag reduction. Case 29 is in fact the baseline design of
for both dummy and live base-bleed cases. the base-bleed exit with one single central circular orifice. Thus, also

1
0.9
0.8
Normalized height, velocity

0.7
0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1 Normalized height Normalized velocity
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
Normalized range
Fig. 7 Flight profile of a sample round.
 6 Article in Advance / AZIZ ET AL.

Table 2 Values of projectile drag at different flight Mach numbers

Mach
Round 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9
1 0.1859 0.1792 0.1698 0.1682 0.1674 0.1689 0.1718 0.1722
2 0.1854 0.1722 0.1681 0.1687 0.171 0.1723 0.1728 0.1839
3 0.1866 0.1755 0.1677 0.1665 0.1687 0.1701 0.1728 0.1737
4 0.1859 0.1745 0.1685 0.1683 0.1720 0.1729 0.1765 0.1846
5 0.1887 0.1734 0.1678 0.1670 0.1697 0.1706 0.1729 0.1702
Mean 0.1865 0.1749 0.1684 0.1677 0.1698 0.1710 0.1734 0.1770
Standard deviation, % 0.116 0.239 0.076 0.084 0.163 0.146 0.162 0.609

0.28
Dummy BB (Exp.) [50]

0.26 Dummy BB (CFD)

Live BB (experiment) [50]
0.24 Live BB (CFD)
Drag coefficient, CD

0.22
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0.2

0.18

0.16

0.14

0.12
1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8
Mach number, M
Fig. 8 Computational drag coefficient vs Mach number for K307 projectile model compared with experimental work in Ref. [50].

0.19
Experiment

0.185 Computation
Drag coefficient, CD

0.18

0.175

0.17

0.165

0.16
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2
Mach number, M
Fig. 9 Mean live firing and computational drag coefficients vs Mach number for tested baseline projectile with live BB.

reported in the table is the percentage reduction in drag coefficient of the total drag coefficient of all configurations with variation of the
any design CDi compared to that of CD29 , as follows: mean radius of the annular slot R and its angle θ.
For better illustration of impact of design parameters on drag, the
CD29 − CDi 2-D projection of the surface above is considered. Figure 11a shows
ΔCDi
%  × 100; i ∈ 1; 28 the total drag coefficient vs the mean slot radius at different slot
CD29
angles. It can be deduced that, regardless of the slot angle θ, the drag
coefficient monotonically decreases with the increase in slot radial
It can be noticed from Table 3 that adding an annular slot bleed exit location R. This is consistent with the results of Yu et al. [27].
improves the drag reduction capability of the base-bleed projectiles. Figure 11b shows the total drag coefficient vs slot angle at different
Case 27 yields the lowest drag reduction, whereas case 5 yields the mean slot radii. It is seen from the figure that at any slot radial location
highest drag reduction among all configurations. Figure 10 shows R, the drag coefficient increases with the increase of the slot angle θ,
the quadratic response surface representing the trend of variation of reaches a maximum value at about the slot angle θ  20 deg, and
 Article in Advance / AZIZ ET AL. 7

Table 3 CFD results of total drag coefficient for behind the projectile base. In the following, an attempt is made to
all configurations involved in the parametric study explain the drag reduction based on physics of flow at the base region.
Case no. Drag coefficient CDi ΔCDi ; %
D. Impact of Bleed Exit Configuration on Base Flowfield Structure
29 0.16527 0.0
27 0.1644 0.53 In the following, the flowfield at the base of projectile with differ-
28 0.16436 0.55 ent geometrical configuration models is presented and discussed. The
25 0.16378 0.9 streamlines and pressure contours are displayed on the symmetry
19 0.16329 1.2 plane passing through the annular slots for a flight Mach number of
21 0.16329 1.2 1.8. The pressure contour values change from low to high as the color
24 0.16322 1.24 changes from dark blue to dark red, respectively.
26 0.16308 1.33
20 0.16286 1.46
Figure 12 shows the streamlines and pressure contours along the
23 0.16282 1.48 symmetry plane for case 25 and case 1; the former is one of the
22 0.16186 2.06 configurations that gives the lowest drag reduction, whereas the latter
15 0.16147 2.3 is one of those with the highest drag reduction. In terms of the
3 0.16144 2.32 geometry, the slots in case 25 can be viewed as an extension of the
16 0.16141 2.34 central circular orifice, whereas the slots in case 1 are located at
7 0.1612 2.46 the farthest radius from the central orifice. The PRR in case 25 is
18 0.1610 2.58
14 0.16096 2.61
smaller; however, this region is limited to the annular extension of
17 0.1605 2.89 the slots.
10 0.16016 3.09 In case 1, because the slots are more widely annularly extended,
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2 0.16014 3.1 their impact on PRR is more widely spread. Eventually, the flow
4 0.16011 3.12 pressure integrated over the base area is higher in case 25 than that in
11 0.15955 3.46 case 1. As displayed in Fig. 12, a blue color zone (lower pressure
13 0.15951 3.49 value) attaches the projectile base in case 25. However, a green color
9 0.1593 3.61
zone (higher pressure value) appears behind the projectile base in
8 0.1584 4.16
1 0.15838 4.17 case 1.
12 0.15824 4.25 Back to Table 3, case 25 yields less drag compared with case 27
6 0.15768 4.59 and case 28, which are closely similar to case 25. This may be
5 0.15696 5.03 explained by recalling that case 25 has a relatively longer radial
extension than the other two. However, case 6 has a similar slot shape
to that of case 25; case 6 has lower drag than that of case 25. This may
then decreases monotonically. In other words, the drag coefficient confirm the role of radial location R in reducing the drag.
can be reduced if the slot angle is relatively very small or very large, Regarding Fig. 12, it is thought that the maximum drag reduction
whereas the drag coefficient is higher for slots with intermediate could be achieved if the bleeding of gases is close to the projectile
angular opening values. This may indicate that a higher drag reduc- base edge and that the slot is completely annular (i.e., θ  45 deg).
tion is associated with a slot that “covers” a wider portion of the base However, case 1 does not yield the lowest drag because the slot width
area either radially (very small angle) or annularly (very large angle). is minimum. The exit flow from these slots interacts with the inner
Nonetheless, annular coverage of the slot is relatively more effective walls of the projectile rim and then merges partially with the shear-
in reducing the drag. This may be owed to the mechanism by which layer flow, as shown in Fig. 12 (down), resulting in reduction of
the bleeding gases out of the slots impact the circulation region impact on base flow structure.

Fig. 10 Quadratic response surface representing the trend of variation of total drag coefficient of all configurations.
 8 Article in Advance / AZIZ ET AL.

0.165
4.5 13.5
0.164 18 31.5
45
0.163

Drag coefficient, CD
0.162

0.161

0.16

0.159

0.158

0.157

0.156
15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
Radial location, R [mm]

a) Variation of drag coefficient with slot radial location at different slot angles
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0.165

0.164

0.163
Drag coefficient, CD

0.162

0.161

0.16

0.159

0.158

0.157 R=17 R=21.5 R=30.5

R=39.5 R=48.5 R=57
0.156
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Angle, [deg.]

b) Variation of drag coefficient versus slot angle at different slot mean radii
Fig. 11 Impact of base-bleed exit design parameters on value of projectile drag coefficient.

Case25
Cd=0.16378

Case1
Cd=0.15838

Fig. 12 Pressure contours and streamlines past the base for case 25 and case 1 at Mach number 1.8.
 Article in Advance / AZIZ ET AL. 9

Case7
Cd=0.1612

Case13
Cd=0.16096
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Fig. 13 Pressure contours and streamlines past the base for case 7 and case 13 at Mach number 1.8.

Figure 13 compares the flowfield structure on the symmetry plane pressure. It is thought that the longer slot (either radially or annularly)
for two other configurations, namely, case 7 and case 13 at a Mach has higher impact in generating SRRs, which results in weakening
number of 1.8. As indicated in Table 2, case 7 gives an intermediate the PRR.
drag reduction, whereas case 13 gives a relatively higher drag reduc- Finally, Fig. 15 shows the pressure contours and streamlines past
tion. The radially extended slot in case 7 manages to push the PRR the base at a Mach number of 1.8 for case 5, which has a maximum
downstream. The large radial extent of slots in case 7 comes on the drag reduction, and case 29, which has a minimum drag reduction. In
expense of slot width and covers the base area such that the inter- case 29, the annular slots are located immediately adjacent to the
spaces are unaffected by the flow. In contrast, the slots in case 13 are central orifice forming one circular opening identical to that of the
located at intermediate radial and annular positions, giving them a baseline projectile model. In case 5, the annular slots are radially
more significant impact on the PRR over a larger portion of the base located far from the base center with a proper angular span and width.
area. Moreover, the color contours of the base flow show higher When the bleeding gases flow from the four slots and the small
pressure in case 13 than that in case 7, where the green color is central orifice, as shown in Fig. 15 (up), the two SRRs (SRR1 and
dominant in the former case and the blue color is dominant in the SRR2) that are formed behind the projectile base are weaker than
latter. those formed in case 29 (i.e., SRR3 and SRR4). Because the SRR is
Figure 14 displays the pattern of the flowfield past the base of the weakened, the bleeding gases from the slots and orifice flow into the
projectile for case 17 and case 2 at a Mach number of 1.8. The two shear layer directly, and the gases are concentrated in the shear layer
designs show nearly the same drag reduction with more slight drag and near the base. On the other hand, when the gases are only
reduction in case 2. In terms of the geometry, case 17 has an area bleeding from the central orifice (Fig. 15, down), the bleeding gases
of wider annular slots, whereas case 2 has slots of far radial location. are “channeled” between the SRRs and the PRR and then flow into
The pressure integration over the base surface is slightly higher in the shear layer, as reported in Ref. [48]. Eventually, the pressure
case 2, which advantageously reflects the influence of radial location integrated over the base in case 5 is higher than that in case 29.
of the slot on drag reduction. To illustrate the dependence of base pressure on base exit design,
As inferred from flowfield structures in the previous figures, the Fig. 16 shows the pressure contours on the projectile base surface for
slot flow generates PRR and weaker multiple SRRs with higher the eight different designs discussed previously. The contrast of

Case17
Cd=0.1605

Case2
Cd=0.16014

Fig. 14 Pressure contours and streamlines past the base for case 17 and case 2 at Mach number 1.8.
 10 Article in Advance / AZIZ ET AL.

Case5
Cd=0.15696

Case29
Cd=0.16527
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Fig. 15 Pressure contours and streamlines past the base for case 5 and case 29 at Mach number 1.8.

of radial location R, angular size θ, and slot width in case 5 may yield
the maximum impact on base flow structure compared with the other
27 designs involved in the parametric study.

E. Comparison of Drag Profiles for Baseline and Optimized Bleed

Exit Configurations
Figure 17 shows the predicted drag coefficients obtained from
simulation for both the baseline design (case 29) and the optimum
case (case 5) with live BB at different Mach numbers ranging from
1.2 to 1.8. It can be clearly inferred that the bleeding exit configura-
tion has a significant effect on the projectile drag reduction. The drag
reduction obtained when using the optimized base-bleed exit con-
figuration ranges from 4.61 to 8.05% compared to the baseline
configuration.

IV. Conclusions
The bleeding exit configuration is confirmed to have a significant
impact on projectile base flow structure; base pressure; and, con-
sequently, projectile drag. In addition, the superiority of annular slots
over central orifice has been confirmed in previous studies. The
Fig. 16 Pressure signature on projectile base for different bleed exit impact of simultaneously using annular slots and a mandatory central
configurations at Mach number 1.8.
orifice as bleeding ports has not been addressed before and is the main
topic of the present study. In addition, finding the design of annular
colors in Fig. 16 reflects the pressure values on the projectile base; the slots that yield maximum drag reduction was the other objective.
pressure value increases as the color changes from dark blue to dark Design parameterization involving radial location and annular span
red. It is clear that the base pressure of case 5 is the highest among all of four identical evenly distributed slots of the same total area was
other cases presented. Back to the figure, the slots in case 5 are located conducted. Twenty-eight distinct designs were developed along with
radially at an intermediate distance between those in case 1 and case the baseline design with a single central orifice. The drag coefficient
12, respectively. It can be assumed that the “optimum” combination of all designs was calculated through 3-D computational simulations.

0.185
Baseline case (CFD)
0.18 Optimum case (CFD)
Drag coefficient, CD

0.175

0.17

0.165

0.16

0.155
1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9
Mach number, M
Fig. 17 Drag coefficients vs Mach number for the baseline and optimum cases with live BB.
 Article in Advance / AZIZ ET AL. 11

The numerical simulation method was found to yield satisfactory Conference on Aerospace Sciences & Aviation Technology (ASAT-8),
prediction accuracy compared with published firing data and own Military Technical College, Cairo, Egypt, 1999, pp. 71–84.
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