Design and investigation on variable Mach number waverider for a wide-speed range

A design methodology of the variable Mach number waverider is proposed for the wide-speed range vehicle in this paper. The proposed approach is based on the variable design Mach number, and the design cone varies with the design Mach number accordingly. In order to validate the advantages of the proposed approach in the wide-speed range, the SST k-w turbulence model is utilized to investigate the flow field characteristics numerically on different flow conditions. The obtained results show that the variable Mach number waverider exhibits better overall performance. The lift-to-drag ratio of Case 3 is nearly the same as that of Case 2. However, the effective volume ratio of Case 3 is much larger than that of Case 2. The variable direction of the design Mach number affects the aerodynamic performances of the waverider obviously. The pressure distribution for the variable Mach number waverider is more evenly-distributed, and its performance is better on the off-design conditions. With the variation of Mach number, the vehicle always has the waverider characteristics partly, and its overall performance is robust in the wide-speed range. The design approach realizes the rebuilding function of the wide-speed vehicle, and it is very useful for the integrated design of wide-speed vehicles.