A survey of heating and turbulent boundary layer characteristics of several hypersonic research aircraft configurations

Four of the configurations investigated during a proposed NASA-Langley hypersonic research aircraft program were selected for phase-change-paint heat-transfer testing and forebody boundary layer pitot surveys. In anticipation of future hypersonic aircraft, both published and unpublished data and results are reviewed and presented with the purpose of providing a synoptic heat-transfer data base from the research effort. Engineering heat-transfer predictions are compared with experimental data on both a global and a local basis. The global predictions are shown to be sufficient for purposes of configuration development, and even the local predictions can be adequate when interpreted in light of the proper flow field. In that regard, cross flow in the forebody boundary layers was examined for significant heating and aerodynamic effect on the scramjet engines. A design philosophy which evolved from the research airplane effort is used to design a forebody shape that produces thin, uniform, forebody boundary layers on a hypersonic airbreathing missile. Finally, heating/boundary layer phenomena which are not predictable with state-of-the-art knowledge and techniques are shown and discussed.