Towards Selection of a Hypersonic Glide Vehicle Aerothermal Common Research Model Configuration

Hypersonic flight presents myriad challenges in terms of the complex multidisciplinary physical phenomena that occur, as well as the political ramifications of the associated capabilities. Addressing the outstanding questions regarding the trades that impact vehicle effectiveness requires collaboration, which stands in direct opposition to the sensitive nature of data surrounding real systems. As such, this work seeks to draw influence from past projects that have defined a Common Research Model, a definition of a vehicle that seeks to gain industry acceptance while avoiding government-controlled or proprietary information, so researchers can increase understanding without operating in isolation. A configuration will be put forth here, but importantly, the process is defined such that the configuration can be reevaluated as new information becomes available or if priorities shift. This study focuses on the challenges of aerothermodynamic prediction for hypersonic vehicles. As a result, a notional hypersonic glide vehicle configuration is presented, along with preliminary results generated using CBAERO, a rapid, lower-fidelity analysis tool using Newtonian panel methods, and STAR-CCM+, a higher-fidelity commercial CFD code. Although different thermal boundary conditions were used, it is clear that the heat flux and pressure fields exhibit differences that are too significant to neglect. The comparison of the results demonstrates how different modeling approaches applied to the same vehicle can yield divergent results, emphasizing the uncertainty in hypersonic aerothermal prediction. The community is encouraged to further the analysis of the proposed configuration using other methods, or to perform physical tests to support the validation of simulation tools.