Waverider design and analysis

In this research effort, methodologies required for the creation of waveriders with the capability to transform themselves into practical hypersonic aircraft configurations were developed and validated. Carving methodologies with capabilities to transform the idealized waverider configurations into practical aircraft configurations with blunted leading edges and with engine compartments for specific hypersonic missions were developed. Further, methodologies, based on both empirical and analytical relations, with capabilities to predict the local surface pressure, skin-friction and heat flux along the leading edges of the waveriders were also developed. For example, in regions where the surfaces of vehicle configuration allow for the use of planar models, the flat plate viscous relations for compressible flow were implemented in the evaluation of the local skin friction and heat flux quantities. However, in other regions, such as, the blunted leading edges, flat plate viscous relations are not applicable, and in those regions the modified Newtonian theory, Fay-Riddell theory and Modified Reynolds analogy were applied. At every stage of the creation of the waverider design tool, the newly develop capabilities were validated using a combination of existing analytical solutions, empirical relationships, and independent computer simulation. Of particular importance to the waverider validation process is the creation of an automated grid generation tool. For the purposes of independent CFD simulations, structured mesh around the resulting waverider configurations, orthogonal to its surface, its generating shocks and its far fields, are automatically generated. In this paper, the efficacy of the grid generation methodology and the capability of the newly created waverider design tool are analyzed.