Design and analysis of payload-optimized waveriders

Abstract

A waverider is a supersonic or hypersonic vehicle with a shock wave attached along its leading edge; this attached shock wave limits leakage from the lower flow region to the upper, thus allowing the potential for high lift/drag ratios relative to conventional designs. To help expand the applicability of waveriders to realistic aerospace missions, implementation of a cylindrical payload requirement into the waverider design and optimization process is investigated. In addition, because the inverse design process is used for constructing waveriders in this research, the use of Computational Fluid Dynamics in obtaining the generating flowfield for waverider design is demonstrated. Finally, three-dimensional numerical simulations are performed around waverider configurations to verify that the design process implemented is correct. These validation results show good agreement with those obtained during the design/optimization process, and help highlight the potential of payload-optimized waveriders in modern aerospace missions.