A survey on numerical simulations of drag and heat reduction mechanism in supersonic/hypersonic flows

Abstract

Along with the survey on experimental investigations drawing attention to the drag and heat reduction mechanism, the authors simultaneously focus on the recent advances of numerical simulations on the schemes applied to supersonic/hypersonic vehicles. The CFD study has evolved as an irreplaceable method in scheme evaluation and aircraft optimization. Similar to our previous experimental survey, the advances in drag and heat reduction schemes are reviewed by similar kinds of mechanism in this article, namely the forward-facing cavity, the opposing jet, the aerospike, the energy deposition and their combinational configurations. This review article puts an emphatic eye on the flow conditions, numerical methods, novel schemes and analytical conclusions given in the simulations. Further, the multi-objective design optimization concept has also been illustrated due to the observable advantages of using CFD over experimental method, especially those performances conducted in drag reduction and thermal protection practice, and this would possess reference value in the design of aircraft system. Keywords: Aerospike, Drag and heat reduction, Energy deposition, Forward-facing cavity, Opposing jet