Hypersonic airbreathing, horizontal takeoff and landing (HTOL), vehicles are highly integrated systems involving many advanced technologies. The design environment is variable rich, intricately networked, and sensitivity intensive; as such, it represents a tremendous challenge. Creating a viable design requires addressing three main elements: (1) an understanding of the figures of merit and their relationship, (2) the development of sophisticated configuration discipline prediction methods and a synthesis procedure, and (3) the synergistic integration of advanced technologies across the discipline spectrum. One of the more design-influencing items shaping the configuration is fuel. The hydrogen- fueled vehicles must be very volumetric efficient to contain the low density fuel, and thus tend to be a bit bulgy; whereas with hydrocarbon- fueled vehicles, the concern is loading because of the high density fuel. Thus, they may tend to be more like waveriders which are not usually very volumetrically efficient. While there is considerable synergy between the two classes of vehicles including aspects of engine integration, systems and configuration shaping, this paper will focus on the airbreathing hypersonic cruise vehicle and its prospects with respect to global reach from a CONUS base.
NASA's Dual-Fuel Airbreathing Hypersonic Vehicle Study
2005
10 pages
Report
No indication
English
NASA's dual-fuel airbreathing hypersonic vehicle study
AIAA | 1996
|NASA's Dual-Fuel Airbreathing Hypersonic Vehicle Study
NTRS | 1996
|NASA Dual Fuel Airbreathing Hypersonic Vehicle Study
British Library Conference Proceedings | 1996
|