Design methodology of the hypersonic axisymmetric forebody

Abstract

The axisymmetric forebody is becoming increasingly important in the integration design of the hypersonic vehicle during the past century. In order to obtain the axisymmetric forebody with low drag and high volumetric efficiency, two novel design methods of the hypersonic axisymmetric forebody are developed in this paper. Firstly, the correction method based on the empirical formula is proposed. By adjusting the coefficient of the Sears–Haack equation and the exponential value of the power-law equation, new types of axisymmetric forebody with different drag coefficient and volumetric efficiency can be generated. Secondly, the parametrization and optimization design method based on multi-objective algorithm is introduced. Both the drag coefficient and volumetric efficiency can be regarded as the design objectives. Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of the two methods above are compared. The comparison results show that the correction method based on empirical formula is simpler and more efficient. The results also demonstrate that the parametrization and optimization design method based on multi-objective algorithm can add much more flexibility to the design of axisymmetric forebody. The more appropriate method can be chosen by the designers depending on the actual requirements.