Fluid–Thermal Interaction Investigation of Spiked Blunt Bodies at Hypersonic Flight Condition

Abstract

A spiked blunt body flying at hypersonic speed could result in significant thermal interactions between the external flowfield and the internal structure, which have not received enough attention in previous investigations. In the present study, time-dependent, loosely coupled fluid–thermal interaction simulations are conducted on a blunt body equipped with a spike with variable length at a , flight condition. The results show that, in the range of time considered in the study, a blunt body with a longer spike yields a better dynamic thermal performance, that is, a lower peak temperature on the blunt forebody surface and a slower temperature rise both on the forebody surface and inside the structure can be obtained. In addition, various levels of drag coefficient drop can be observed during the coupling process. A maximum decrease of 5.7% is achieved among the investigated models. The study reveals the necessity of the coupled fluid–thermal analysis to accurately predict the aerothermal environment of the spiked blunt body and to capture the variation of aerodynamic force, which is critical for structural design and flight control system, respectively.