Influence of Non-Uniform Bluntness on Aerodynamic Performance and Aerothermal Characteristics of Waverider

Abstract

The waverider is widely used in hypersonic vehicles with its high aerodynamic performance, but due to the serious aerothermal environment, its sharp leading edge should be blunted. Circular blunt is one of the commonly used aerothermal characteristic protection methods. Circular blunt with larger diameter can reduce peak heat flux, but at the same time, it will lead to larger drag. The existing research shows that under the same blunt diameter in two-dimensions, the non-uniform blunt can reduce the peak heat flux by 20%, and the difference of drag is small. In this paper, the non-uniform blunt profile is applied to the three-dimensional waverider, and the influence of the non-uniform blunt profile on the aerothermal characteristic performance and aerodynamic performance of the waverider is studied, and the results are compared with those of circular blunt. The numerical simulation is used to compare and analyze the waverider under different angles of attack, flight altitudes, and Mach number. The results show that the peak heat flux of the waverider with non-uniform blunt reduces by about 17% compared with that with circular blunt under a small angle of attack range, Mach 2-10, and a flight altitude of 15–35 km. Meanwhile, when the blunt height/diameter is 20 mm, the aerodynamic performance difference between the two different blunt profiles does not exceed 3% within a 15 degrees angle of attack, Mach 2-10, and flight altitude of 15–35 km. The non-uniform blunt profile can be applied to the design of the three-dimensional waverider.