Experimental and Numerical Investigations on Waveriders in Different Flight Regimes

Abstract

A waverider configuration named DLR-F8 has been generated at M* = 12.0 with practicle distributions of chamber and volume. The investigations on this geometry comprise both experimental and numerical studies in the whole flow regime from subsonic up to hypersonic Mach numbers. In hypersonic flow the performance characteristics remained constant in a wide range of Mach numbers. If the shock detaches from the leading edge L/D increases by expansion flow or by leading edge vortices on the upper surface. The leading edge bluntness can be minimized in order to avoid a significant increase of wave drag and thermal loading can be handled by a proper combination of material and structural design. In the transonic flow regime the highest L/D is achieved. The performance characteristics are dominated by leading edge vortices on the upper surface, and the moment of the terminating shock leads to considerable changes in the centre of pressure position. In incompressible flow a complex vortex structure exists on the upper surface which is distinctly different from that on delta wings. In the vortex centre exists a region of reduced velocity which is due to the leading edge curvature in the front part of the waverider. The Euler and Navier-Stokes codes used in the present studies are powerful tools to predict the flow around the configuration in the whole Mach number range.