TITLE:
Calculation of Aerodynamic Characteristics of Hypersonic Vehicles Based on the Surface Element Method
AUTHORS:
Tianqiang Huang, Guoyi He, Qi Wang
KEYWORDS:
Surface Element Method, Hypersonic Vehicle, C++, Aerodynamic Characteristics, Engineering Calculations
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Aerospace Science and Technology,
Vol.7 No.2,
May
27,
2022
ABSTRACT: A program for calculating the aerodynamic properties of hypersonic
vehicles based on the surface element method was developed using the
general-purpose programming language C++. The calculated values of
lift coefficients, drag coefficients, and surface pressure coefficients are
discussed with the results of wind tunnel experiments using the HL-20 lift body
and the NASA hypersonic aircraft STS Columbia OV-102 as research subjects.
Finally, the results of the experimental and wind tunnel studies of the aerodynamic
characteristics of the HL-20 lift body at an altitude of 65 km and Mach numbers
of 6 and 10 Ma are discussed. The maximum error in the aerodynamic
characteristics at 6 Ma does not exceed 3%, consistent with the results. The
maximum error at 10 Ma occurs in the 11° - 14° angle of attack and does not exceed 10%, which is still within the error
tolerance. The STS results for NASA’s hypersonic aircraft were also tested
using this procedure. Experimental aerodynamic data for the Colombian OV-102
aircraft. The results show that the program takes only 10 minutes to calculate
the results, with no more than 2% error from the wind tunnel experimental
results.