Optimum shape of a blunt forebody in hypersonic flow

The optimum shape of a blunt forebody attached to a symmetric wedge or cone is determined. The length of the forebody, its semi-thickness or base radius, the nose radius and the radius of the fillet joining the forebody to the wedge or cone are specified. The optimum shape is composed of simple curves. Thus experimental models can be built readily to investigate the utilization of aerodynamic heating for boundary layer control. The optimum shape based on the modified Newtonian theory can also serve as the preliminary shape for the numerical solution of the optimum shape using the governing equations for a compressible inviscid or viscous flow.