Parametric CFD Study for Modified HOPE-X Configurations

摘要

HOPE-X (H-II Orbiting Plane Experiment) is scheduled for launch in the first decade of 21st century. For several years, systematic aerodynamic study has been conducted by the wind tunnel experiments and CFD simulations from low to hypersonic speeds. Recently, in order to reduce vehicle weight and get high performance, configuration of HOPE-X is changed from tip-fin type to two-vertical fin type geometry. For this new aerodynamic configuration design, CFD has been mainly used and Navier-Stokes calculations have been performed from low(M _∞=0.4) to hypersonic speed (M_∞=26), using NAL NWT (Numerical Wind Tunnel) system. Totally, 250 computations were conducted for 10 candidate configurations of new HOPE-X and the geometry and control surface effects on aerodynamic characteristics were investigated in detail.