Numerical Analysis on Flight-Test Results of Supersonic Experimental Airplane NEXST-1

Abstract

A flight test of a supersonic experimental airplane (National Experimental Supersonic Transport, NEXST-1) was successfully conducted by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency in October of 2005. The experimental airplane was designed to reduce drag on supersonic cruise condition by means of some conventional and advanced design concepts: arrow wing planform, warp wing, area-ruled body, and natural laminar flow wing. The purpose of this study was to make clear the verification of those design concepts on the experimental airplane using the computational fluid dynamics analysis. The computational fluid dynamics results were compared with the flight-test results. The aeroelastic deformation and boundary layer transition were taken into account in the computational fluid dynamics analysis. This comparison highlighted the quantitative benefit of the natural laminar flow wing design concept. Furthermore, a real size supersonic transport could be designed using the drag reduction design technologies already validated from the NEXST-1 flight test. The results helped clarify the net drag reduction potentially attainable on a full-scale supersonic transport.