Novel Osculating Flowfield Methodology for Hypersonic Waverider Vehicles Based on Variable Shock Angle

Abstract

This study proposes a variable shock angle osculating flowfield waverider design method. The flow field structure and aerodynamic characteristics of osculating flowfield waveriders are also analyzed. In this method, the constraint of imposing the same conical flowfield on each osculating plane is removed because the shock angle of each osculating plane is different, which can be chosen according to the specific needs of waveriders. The obtained results show that the shock angle distribution is an important factor in the design of osculating flowfield waveriders. A waverider whose shock angle increases as a parabolic curve along the spanwise direction has a larger volume and lower lift-to-drag ratio. In contrast, a waverider whose shock angle decreases as a parabolic curve along the spanwise direction has a smaller volume and higher lift-to-drag ratio. Providing different shock angle distributions can lead to greater flexibility in the design and optimization of hypersonic waverider vehicles.