Air Vehicle Integration and Technology Research (AVIATR). Delivery Order 0023: Predictive Capability for Hypersonic Structural Response and Life Prediction: Phase 2 - Detailed Design of Hypersonic Cruise Vehicle Hot-Structure

Abstract : Structural design of hypersonic vehicles requires additional considerations and effort, relative to conventional subsonic and low-supersonic aircraft, because of the wide Mach number range and the associated heating effects at high Mach numbers. At high temperatures, conventional structural materials, such as metals, suffer from reduced strength, reduced stiffness, increased creep, increased oxidation, increased thermal stresses, and other detrimental effects that impact structural design; many of these effects are of limited concern for aircraft with more conventional Mach number range and so hypersonic vehicles require a different approach to structural design. Four panels of a representative hypersonic cruise vehicle with state-of-the-art standard methods and tools to verify structural response and life predictive capabilities.