Study on static aerothermoelasticity for hypersonic vehicle

Aerothermoelasticity characteristic of new generation hypersonic vehicle becomes more and more important, especially for those vehicles with long flight duration, medium heat flux, non-ablation material and structure, relative complex configuration with thin wing and/or flaps. Heat environment and temperature responsibility of vehicle structure affect vehicle structural aeroelasticity obviously and cannot afford to be ignored. Static aerothermoelasticity for the wing of a hypersonic vehicle is studied using a multi-field coupling method including aerodynamics, thermodynamics and heat structure response analysis. Validated engineering methods are adopted to predict aerodynamic and thermodynamics characteristics to ensure the computational efficiency, while finite element method are used to solve heat response and heat stress/deformation behavior. The simulation results for the wing of a typical hypersonic cruise vehicle show that structural temperature increase due to aerodynamic heating affect not only the thermophysics parameters, but also the aeroelastic characteristic significantly. The deformation and the corresponding vibration frequency may affect further the aerodynamics characteristics, the flight stability and the control efficiency of the vehicle. Accurate prediction of the aerothermoelastic characteristics is essential for the design of hypersonic vehicle structure.