Development of New Technology and Design Framework for Supersonic Transport Aircraft

Supersonic transport aircrafts are thought to revolutionize air travel in the forthcoming century. New design concepts at early design stages of supersonic transport aircraft design are currently analyzed using low-fidelity tools. In this paper, it is proposed that CFD could be successfully utilized at the conceptual design phase to perform rapid design analyses of a multitude of designs and design trade-off. Such a task can be accomplished with the advancement of technology such as automated meshing and high-performance supercomputing. CFD merged with high-performance computing technology can enable obtaining high-fidelity solutions at a reasonable cost early in the conceptual design phases. This idea is demonstrated through analysis of a technological concept called aerospikes. Aerospike is a new technology being proposed for supersonic transport aircraft design in this paper. Aerospikes when integrated on the nose cone of a supersonic aircraft is hypothesized to reduce shock wave loads and protect the sensitive electronics in the nose cone. However, the analyses performed through CFD on five different models proved otherwise. The generation of oblique shocks in front of the aerospike causes stronger shocks produced at the rear near the nose. The result is significant since the proposed design framework was able to capture the effects of aerospikes and inform the designer accurately. The designer can now look for alternate designs. The results thus demonstrate the effectiveness of the design framework proposed for utilization in the conceptual design phase of an aircraft.