Critical Design Issues for Airbreathing Hypersonic Waverider Missiles

TLDR: Double-engine designs are shown to be more promising than single- engine designs for achieving the desired 750-km range, as well as allowing for increased payload, and the sensitivity of the modeling assumptions on the performance of the optimized designs are explained.

Abstract: Tradeoffs involved in the design of a hydrocarbon-fueled, hypersonic waverider-based missile were explored. The problem of providing acceptable vehicle performance in a volume-constrained package was addressed. The speciŽ c case of amissile constrained to Ž t within a 0:61 £ £ 0:61 £ £ 4:27m navalvertical launch tubewas examined, and a parametric study was performed to determine the probabilistic boundaries of designing a Mach 6 missile to satisfy the desired mission goal of a 750-km cruising range. All missile designs were assumed to reach cruising altitude and velocity through the use of an external rocket booster. The key design elements investigated are fuel volume fraction, engine inlet pressure, the number of scramjet engines, and the effects of changing the engine mixing and burning efŽ ciencies. Missile designs were optimized for steady-state trim conditions at the beginning of cruise using genetic algorithmsoftware. The sensitivities of the modeling assumptionson the performance of the Ž nal optimized designs are explained. The overall contribution of the optimized designs along with the predicted change in performance expected with increased modeling accuracy allows upper performance and range limits to be established. Double-engine designs are shown to be more promising than single-engine designs for achieving the desired 750-km range, as well as allowing for increased payload.