A computational investigation of sharp and blunt leading edges in rarefied hypersonic flow are presented. Leading-edge bluntness effects on the aerodynamic surface quantities have been investigated by employing the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. The results highlight the sensitivity of the heat transfer, pressure, skin friction, drag, and lift coefficients for four different nose radius in order to assess the relative importance of the leading-edge bluntness and the underwedge-surface angle of leading edges for waverider configurations. Comparisons based on drag, lift and lift-to-drag ratio are made between these blunt configurations and sharply pointed leading edges. Some significant differences between these shapes are noted on the aerodynamic surface quantities investigated. The analysis is of great importance since it is impossible to achieve ideally sharp leading edges of airframes such as waveriders.
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