Aerodynamic and Inlet Flow Characteristics of Several Hypersonic Airbreathing Missile Concepts

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

Four conceptual hypersonic missile configurations were examined experimentally and theoretically. Two of the concepts employed twin module bottom-mounted engines and two were designed for upper-surface inlets or engines with the intent of reducing the vehicle observables. The tests were conducted at Mach 6 and Reynolds numbers of 6 to 7.5 x 106/ft. Flowfield surveys in the vicinity of the engine inlet were made on all configurations and force and moment tests were conducted on three of the vehicles. Stability and control characteristics of the bottom-mounted engine configurations which incorporated low, slender wings were dominated by strong vortices that promoted severe pitchup tendencies. The shock layer and flow quality in the vicinity of the bottommounted engine inlets were dependent on nose shape. The spatula-like upper-surface engine concept demonstrated good performance and had uniform flow entering the engine inlet, while the upper-surface inlet concept with a highly swept forebody incurred large gradients due to interactions with leading-edge shocks.