Approximate Heat Transfer Methods for Hypersonic Flow in Comparison with Results Provided by Numerical Navier-Stokes Solution

In the design of an hypersonic configuration heat-transfer plays an essential role. For computations within aerothermal predesign fast and sufficiently accurate heat prediction methods are required. In this work approximate methods for computing skin friction and heat transfer for hypersonic flow have been studied. The evaluation of heat transfer and skin friction by using these methods only requi- res the flow data at the boundary layer edge and the surface tem- perature. Combining the approximate viscous methods with surface inclination methods leads to a very efficient overall method. Total aerodynamic forces and heat transfer for a complete configuration are computed withon seconds on workstations assembly. Approximate heat transfer and skin friction results are obtained here for a hypersonic drag stabilized missile, a waverider configuration, se- veral blunted cone cases, a swept fin with blunt leading edge and a complete missile (axisymmetric body with 6 fins in the aft).