Aerodynamic analysis of hypersonic waverider aircraft

The purpose of this study is to validate two existing codes used by the Systems Analysis Branch at NASA ARC, and to modify the codes so they can be used to generate and analyze waverider aircraft at on-design and off-design conditions. To generate waverider configurations and perform the on-design analysis, the appropriately named Waverider code is used. The Waverider code is based on the Taylor-Maccoll equations. Validation is accomplished via a comparison with previously published results. The Waverider code is modified to incorporate a fairing to close off the base area of the waverider configuration. This creates a more realistic waverider. The Hypersonic Aircraft Vehicle Optimization Code (HAVOC) is used to perform the off-design analysis of waverider configurations generated by the Waverider code. Various approximate analysis methods are used by HAVOC to predict the aerodynamic characteristics, which are validated via a comparison with experimental results from a hypersonic test model.