Blunt methods for the leading edge of waverider

Waverider is an effective reference configuration when designing high Lift-to-Drag ratio hypersonic aircraft. Restricted by aerodynamic thermal protection system and material processing technique, the sharp leading edge of a ideal waverider needs to be blunted. Two blunt methods, Tincher method and Takashima method, are discussed and analyzed in this work, and the feature that the two methods have in common is suggested and clarified by a typical waverider. Chosen a typical ideal waverider as reference model, uniform and non-uniform methods are applied, and the aerodynamic performances are studied. CFD method is used to analyze the performance of the three waverider models. The sharp leading edge waverider achieces its maximum Lift-to-Drag ratio at 0ångle of attack, which is the design point and shows the "wave rider" characteristic, the sharp leading edge prevents the high pressure leaking to the upper surface, thus shows good aerodynamic performance. Blunted waverider obtains the maximum lift-to-drag ratio at about 2ångle of attack. As the angle of attack increases, the aerodynamic performance of both the ideal and the blunted waveriders shows the same variation trend, while the performance of the non-uniform blunted waverider is more close to the ideal one. The flow field pressure contours shows that the non-uniform blunted method effectively reduces the high pressure gas leaking from the lower surface to the upper surface, thus the non-uniform blunted waverider shows better aerodynamic performance than uniform blunted one, which can be referenced in the configuration design of hypersonic waverider analogue vehicle.