Machine Learning Applications in Modelling and Analysis of Base Pressure in Suddenly Expanded Flows

Base pressure becomes a decisive factor in governing the base drag of aerodynamic vehicles. While several experimental and numerical methods have already been used for base pressure analysis in suddenly expanded flows, their implementation is quite time consuming. Therefore, we must develop a progressive approach to determine base pressure (beta). Furthermore, a direct consideration of the influence of flow and geometric parameters cannot be studied by using these methods. This study develops a platform for data-driven analysis of base pressure (beta) prediction in suddenly expanded flows, in which the influence of flow and geometric parameters including Mach number (M), nozzle pressure ratio (eta), area ratio (alpha), and length to diameter ratio (phi) have been studied. Three different machine learning (ML) models, namely, artificial neural networks (ANN), support vector machine (SVM), and random forest (RF), have been trained using a large amount of data developed from response equations. The response equations for base pressure (beta) were created using the response surface methodology (RSM) approach. The predicted results are compared with the experimental results to validate the proposed platform. The results obtained from this work can be applied in the right way to maximize base pressure in rockets and missiles to minimize base drag.