Georgia Institute of Technology

Final Report

Runway-Based Space Launch System Aerodynamics

Authors: Robert Golas and Natsuki Nakano

Professor: Dr. Narayan Komerath

Integrative Assignment AE 3021 A - High Speed Aerodynamics

May 1, 2013

Executive Summary With the extremely high cost of launching directly to space using rockets, other means of space access must be explored to make certain space projects nancially feasible. The launch vehicle proposed in this document is a single stage horizontal takeo and landing vehicle capable of reaching low Earth orbit. The vehicle will utilize a magnetic levitation rail capable of accelerating it to a speed of at least Mach 1. At this point, the vehicle will ignite its ramjet engine which will be used to accelerate to Mach 5 in the stratosphere. The ramjet will then mechanically be altered to perform as a scramjet and will be used to accelerate to Mach 15 at an altitude of approximately 25 kilometers where an air breathing engine is no longer viable. Liquid air cycle engines will be used to maximize eciency. At Mach 15, the ramjet/scramjet engine inlet will close and the vehicle will re its rocket engine to accelerate to orbital velocity and reach low Earth orbit. This vehicle does not require any turbomachinery which makes it lightweight and less complex than other proposed options. The vehicle is capable of carrying 100,000 kg to orbit with only 180,000 kg of fuel. Unfortunately, the high drag incurred cannot be overcome by current engines available. With a future increase in the thrust capability of engines, this vehicle will be well suited for single stage horizontal takeo space access.

Contents
1 Introduction 2 Horizontal Takeo Space Vehicles 3 Hypersonic Airbreathing Vehicles 4 Current Heavy-Lift Aerodynamic Vehicles 5 Conceptual Design 5.1 Preliminary Idea . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Body and Wing Shape . . . . . . . . 5.3 Design Sizing . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Wing Loading and Speed Variations 5.5 Staging . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 Preliminary Aerodynamics . . . . . . 5.7 Advanced Aerodynamics . . . . . . . 6 Conclusion 4 5 8 12 13 13 15 16 18 19 19 21 24

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List of Figures
2.1 2.2 2.3 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 SpaceShipOne and White Knight Courtesy of Scaled Composites [1] . . . . . . . SpaceShipTwo and White Knight Two Courtesy of Virgin Galactic [2] . . . . . . Pegasus Launch Vehicle Courtesy of NASA [3] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DARPA Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 Courtesy of Aviation Week [4] NASA X-43 Courtesy of X-Planes Data Site [5] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Boeing X-51 Attached to a Boeing B-52 Courtesy of Business Insider [6] Rockwell X-30 NASP Courtesy of Style of Speed [7] . . . . . . . . . . . Reaction Engines Limited Skylon Courtesy of Reaction Engines [8] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 6 6

. 8 . 9 . 9 . 10 . 10 . 15 . 20 . 20 . 21 . 22

Conically Derived WaveRider Body Shape Courtesy of A. Filippone [9] . . . . . Newtonian Flow Field over a Flat Plate Courtesy of Anderson [12] . . . . . . . Lift and Drag Predictions Derived from Newtonian Theory Courtesy of Anderson [12] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CAD Model of the Body of the Vehicle Including the Payload Section . . . . . Diamond Airfoil Shock Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

List of Tables
4.1 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Heavy-Lift Aerodynamic Vehicles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Total Mass Sizing (kg) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wing Area Variations (m2 ) with Dierent Wing Loads Wing Area Variations (m2 ) with Dierent Wing Loads Skin Friction Drag Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Total Lift During Dierent Operating Conditions . . . Total Drag During Dierent Operating Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . at 10% Mass Contingency at 40% Mass Contingency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 18 18 23 23 23

Chapter 1

Introduction
Current developments of a horizontal takeo space access vehicle are still in the conceptual design phase. There are many diculties associated with launching from a runway into orbit. The primary issue is that the vehicle must be able to operate well in the subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic regimes, and do so very eciently. Horizontal takeos typically require an airbreathing engine. As of now, there are no engines, whether turbojet, ramjet, scramjet or otherwise, that can operate at orbital speed. This indicates that a rocket of some type is required. At low speeds, the airbreathing engines are very ecient but the Is p and thrust drops signicantly above Mach 5. In order to function eciently, the payload mass should be relatively small in order to reduce fuel mass. Some of this mass can be reduced by using a liquid air cycle engine (LACE) that collects and liquees oxygen and stores it as oxidizer on board. A hypersonic vehicle also must operate under extreme temperature conditions requiring advanced thermal protection systems. This document will discuss how prior aircraft have attempted to overcome these diculties, and will discuss a new proposed conceptual design.

Chapter 2

Horizontal Takeo Space Vehicles

Only a few horizontal takeo space vehicles have been designed and successfully launched. There have only been two successful horizontal takeo space vehicles capable of carrying passengers and neither of them achieve hypersonic speed. The payloads each of these vehicles can carry is signicantly less than the requirements of this project.

Figure 2.1: SpaceShipOne and White Knight Courtesy of Scaled Composites [1] 1. SpaceShipOne (Scaled Composites) (a) White Knight White Night was used to launch Spaceship One from the ground to 15 km in altitude. It uses two General Electric J85-GE-5 after-burning turbojest, producing 11 kN of thrust each and 16 kN if afterburners are used. White Knight is designed to carry a payload up to 3600 kg with a wingspan of 25 m. Despite being developed as a Spaceship One launcher, White Knight was also used to test other space vehicles such as Boeing X-37 spacecraft. (b) SpaceShipOne After being launched by White Knight, Spaceship One uses Hybrid Solid rocket engine produced by SpaceDev to carry itself from 15Km to 100Km in altitude. Spaceship One only has one engine producing 73.5 kN throughout its burn time of 87 seconds. Spaceship One was made for and won the Ansari X Prize for being the rst private reusable manned spacecraft, carrying one pilot to the orbit. 2. SpaceShipTwo (Virgin Galactic) (a) White Knight Two

White Knight Two was designed as a successor to White Knight One. Unlike White Knight One, it has an ability to carry aircraft other than Spaceship One, allowing the use with testing other aircrafts. White Knight Two has two fuselages which sandwiches Spaceship Two connected by the wing. It has an ability to carry 17,000 kg payloads to 50,000 ft or 200 kg to LEO with a wingspan of 43 meters. (b) SpaceShipTwo Spaceship Two is the improved version of Spaceship One. White Knight Two would carry it up to an altitude of 50,000 ft. Unlike Spaceship One, Spaceship Two has future space touring in mind. Other than two crews, it can carry six passengers who would sign up for private space travel. The rocket motor onboard Spaceship Two produces maximum thrust of 270 kN, accelerating Spaceship Two to 4,000 km/h. Spaceship Two has a wingspan of 8.3 meters.

Figure 2.2: SpaceShipTwo and White Knight Two Courtesy of Virgin Galactic [2] 3. Pegasus (Orbital Sciences Co.) (a) Stargazer Stargazer is the modied Lockheed L-1011 commercial aircraft modied to carry Pegasus spacecraft under its fuselage. It is designed to carry Pegasus up to an altitude of 40,000 ft where it would be launched. (b) Pegasus The Pegasus rocket is launched at 40,000 ft. It has an advantage of avoiding ying within a thick atmosphere by launching it in high altitude. It is designed to carry a 443 kg payload using three stage rockets with a wingspan of 6.7 meters.

Figure 2.3: Pegasus Launch Vehicle Courtesy of NASA [3]

There are a few other horizontal take o vehicles capable of achieving hypersonic speed that have not yet reached space. Many of these hypersonic vehicles use a techinque similar to the Pegasus rocket, or actually use a Pegasus rocket. These vehicles will be discussed in the next chapter.

Chapter 3

Hypersonic Airbreathing Vehicles

Hypersonic vehicles are classied as an aircraft that can y at speeds varying from Mach 5 to Mach 20. In order for a hypersonic vehicle to use an air-breathing engine, a scramjet must be utilized. A scramjet works like a ramjet in that it uses high speed ow to compress and decelerate the incoming air before combustion. Unlike a ramjet, the ow through a scramjet remains supersonic throughout the entire engine. This allows the scramjet to operate with extreme eciency at very high speed which is necessary in producing a reusable, low cost launch vehicle. The fastest air-breathing aircraft to date is the unmanned DARPA Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 which utilized a scramjet and reached a speed of Mach 20.

Figure 3.1: DARPA Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 Courtesy of Aviation Week [4] The Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 was a joint project between DARPA and the United States Air Force. Two HTV-2s were built and then tested in 2010 and 2011. The HTV-2 was launched on a Minotaur IV light rocket. The rst test was purposefully terminated after 9 minutes of ight after it entered a destructive roll behavior. The second test launch experienced a similar fate. As mentioned earlier, this vehicle relied on a rocket to enter the lower atmosphere and then used its trajectory to provide the initial velocity used to ignite its scramjet engines. This type of vehicle is clearly unsuited for a horizontal take o space access vehicle; it must use a rocket to reach hypersonic speeds and it also was not designed to land. The most feasible hypersonic air-breathing aircraft to date are those carried to an initial altitude by a carrier aircraft. The hypersonic vehicle then separates from the aircraft and res a rocket

booster to accelerate the vehicle to a velocity in which the scramjet can be ignited. The NASA X-43 and the Boeing X-51 both utilized this technology. The X-43 is extremely small at just 3.7 meters in length. The vehicle uses a lifting body design where the body provides most of the aircrafts lift. The aircraft was brought to altitude using a Boeing B-52. The X-43 was attached to a Pegasus rocket which was used to bring the vehicle up to the speed in which the scramjet could be ignited. The rst test launch was unsuccessful after the Pegasus booster lost control. The second test launch vehicle reached Mach 6.83 and had a burn time of 11 seconds. After the burn, the X-43 ew for an additional 7 minutes before it was own into the Pacic Ocean. The third test ight achieved Mach 9.68 with a 10 second burn time and a 10 minute glide into an intentional crash. The X-43 primarily used two pounds of hydrogen fuel. Scramjets do not need additional onboard oxygen which signicantly reduces size and mass. In order to deal with the heating problems, the X-43 cycled water behind the engine cowl and leading edges to cool the surfaces. In the future, a similar technique can be used with the fuel like the SR-71.

Figure 3.2: NASA X-43 Courtesy of X-Planes Data Site [5] The X-51 performs in a similar fashion as the X-43. It is nicknamed the WaveRider because it utilizes shockwaves to generate additional lift. It too was carried to an altitude of approximately 50,000 feet by a B-52. After separation, it utilized a MGM-140 ATACMS solid rocket booster to accelerate the vehicle to Mach 4.5. The scramjet engine is lit using ethylene and then transitions to approximately 270 lbs. of JP-7. The rst and third test ights both failed, however, the second test ight was successful. The X-51 ew under powered ight for 140 seconds setting a new record for a scramjet. It is about twice the size of the X-43 with a total length of 7.62 meters. A fourth test ight is planned for early 2013. Neither of these vehicles carried passengers, neither was designed to actually land, and both had very poor success percentages.

Figure 3.3: Boeing X-51 Attached to a Boeing B-52 Courtesy of Business Insider [6]

During the heart of the Cold War, the US and Russia both started programs to create hypersonic aircrafts called the Aurora and the Ayaks which are both seen as the precursor to hypersonic vehicles. Using three stages, an aircraft, a rocket, and a scramjet, is not very practical from a cost standpoint. Due to these issues, there is need for a single-stage, reusable hypersonic aircraft. The Rockwell X-30 NASP was the rst conceptual single-stage to orbit (SSTO) aircraft. There are no details on how the aircraft would perform under low speed and take-o conditions, however, the X-30 body shape used a waverider conguration. Again, this shape generated compression lift from shockwaves. The body has two small wings which were essentially to be used to provide trim and control in high-speed ight. These small wings would have diculty generating enough lift to initially get o the ground. The planned dimensions labeled the X-30 as being 48.8 meters in lengths with a 22.6 meter wingspan. This concept was scaled down and eventually became the X-43. The Russian Tupolev Tu-2000 and the British HOTOL used similar concepts.

Figure 3.4: Rockwell X-30 NASP Courtesy of Style of Speed [7] Present horizontal takeo to orbit hypersonic aircraft are still in the conceptual phase. There are two noteworthy designs, namely the British Reaction Engines Limited Skylon and the Indian AVATAR RLV. Both of these vehicles use Liquid Air Cycle Engines. The vehicle takes o from a conventional aireld and collects and liquees air in the atmosphere. They then separate oxygen and store in on board for ight beyond the atmosphere. The AVATAR has a proposed weight of 20 tons with 60 of the mass composed of liquid hydrogen fuel. It is theorized that it can carry a satellite up to one ton to a 100 km orbit in a single stage. It is said to be able to be used approximately 100 times. This would signicantly reduce launch costs.

Figure 3.5: Reaction Engines Limited Skylon Courtesy of Reaction Engines [8] The Skylon is aiming for a reusability of 200 launches. It aims to carry up to 15 tons. It is currently planned to be unmanned. After landing, the Skylon would have a turnaround time 10

of just two days. All hypersonic engines must use precooling in order to function. The vehicle uses a SABRE engine with a very interesting design. It operates like a conventional jet engine up to Mach 5.5 at an altitude of 26 kilometers. The air inlet closes and then operates as a high eciency rocket until it reaches orbital speed. Unlike all other aircraft previously listed, the Skylons SABRE engines are not scramjets but rather a jet engine running combined cycles of a precooled jet engine, a rocket engine, and a ramjet. This is similar to the SR-71 design but it remains an air-breathing aircraft up to a velocity of Mach 5.5 utilizing a state of the air cooling system. It has a length of 83.3 meters, a wingspan of 25.4 meters, and can carry a payload of 15,000 kg which is still signicantly less than the 50,000 kg requirement of this project.

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Chapter 4

Current Heavy-Lift Aerodynamic Vehicles

The ve greatest takeo weight heavy-lift vehicles can be found in Table 4.1. The aircraft have the potential to carry large hypersonic vehicle carrying a large payload to an initial launch altitude. All of these vehicles have a relatively low service ceiling of approximately 40,000 feet. The B-52 launched the X-51 at 50,000 feet, so these vehicles may show a slight decrease in performance at the lower altitude. Table 4.1: Heavy-Lift Aerodynamic Vehicles Aircraft Antorov An-225 Airbus A380F Boeing B747-8F Antorov An-124 Lockheed C-5B Takeo Weight (kg) 640,000 590,000 448,000 405,000 381,000 Wing Span (kg) 88.4 79.75 68.45 73.3 67.89

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Chapter 5

Conceptual Design
5.1 Preliminary Idea
There were two main design considerations and thought processes that were contenders for a nal design construct. The rst was a piggyback type aircraft that would use a heavy-lift vehicle to carry it to a certain altitude. At that point it would detach and use a rocket to accelerate to hypersonic speeds where it would then use a scramjet to maintain hypersonic velocity. There are few main problems associated with this technique. First, a heavy-lift aircraft capable of carrying the orbital vehicles payload (the power array), the orbital vehicle itself, the orbital vehicles fuel, and its own fuel would be necessary. This is simply outside the realm of current capabilities. Even if it could be carried, an air-breathing scramjet has never been able to be successfully placed into orbit. Finally, this multistage technique would require a lot of synchronization, at least two separate aircraft, fuel for both aircraft, and would more than likely not be able to meet the payload mass requirements. For these reasons, the following concept has been chosen as the most likely contender. The plan is to utilize a system similar to the Reaction Engines Limited Skylon. The vehicle will function as an all-inclusive horizontal take-o and landing orbital vehicle. The vehicle will be placed on a mag-lev rail which will be used to accelerate to a velocity of at least Mach 1. At this point in time, a ramjet engine similar to the SABRE engine will be ignited producing additional thrust. The body shape will be similar to the Boeing X-51 with more pronounced delta wings to create lift at lower ight speeds. The bodys wedge-like shape will create compression lift at high ight speeds. A combination of compression lift and lift from the wings will generate enough total lift to allow the vehicle to take o from the mag-lev rail. A liquid air cycle engine will be used to conserve some of the initial vehicle mass and store LOX onboard. The ramjet will be used until LOX tanks are full and the vehicle reaches a speed of approximately Mach 5. Around Mach 5, the shape of the inner air intake manifold will be changed mechanically. This will change the engine from a ramjet to a scramjet. In the ramjet conguration, the intake manifold will slow the ow to subsonic speeds using a combination of ramps and baes. In the scramjet conguration, the eect of these ramps and baes will be reduced to allow supersonic ow throughout the engine. The scramjet will be used from Mach 5 to Mach 15. At this point, like the SABRE, the air intake will be closed and the vehicle will enter a closed cycle rocket booster stage to reach low earth orbit using the stored LOX and LH2. Unlike the SABRE, this engine is simply a ramjet/scramjet and does not require the turbojet engine components which will reduce mass, complexity, and fuel consumption. The aircraft will require two separate engines unlike the SABRE; one will be the combination ramjet/scramjet, and the other will be a rocket engine mounted in the rear of the aircraft. By separating the 13

rocket engine and the ramjet/scramjet, the rocket engine is not subjected to the extremely hot ow from the ramjet/scramjet engine and can also use a nozzle more suited to a rockets needs. This vehicle will require signicant thermal protection and precooling to ensure the aircraft does not disintegrate. Due to the delta wing shape, the vehicle will glide similar to the Space Shuttle upon reentry and will be able to land on a runway and slow down with the aid of parachutes. With this technique, it is believed that this vehicle will be extremely ecient, cost eective, will be able to carry heavy loads, and will have a very fast turnaround time.

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5.2 Body and Wing Shape

There is great diculty in designing a body and wing shape suitable for a speed regime ranging from zero to reentry speeds of Mach 30. The body shape must be conically derived in order to ensure that the body will always be inside of the shock wave generated by it. Figure 5.1 shows a typical WaveRider body shape. In this conguration, the center area will be used to store the payload as well as fuel.

Figure 5.1: Conically Derived WaveRider Body Shape Courtesy of A. Filippone [9] The ramjet/scramjet combination engine will be placed near the center of the body. The body in front of the engine will act as a dynamic compressor and the aft body will act as an expansion nozzle. Similar to the gure, this concept will utilize delta wings as the primary source of aerodynamic lift. The body wings will be similar to a Caret wing with an anhedral to the body. This generates a shock between the leading edges trapped horizontally spanwise and vertically as well. This traps a large volume of air between the shock and the fuselage. This causes a pressure dierential creating extra lift. The Caret wing also reduces thermal loads on the fuselage since the shock is held away from the body. While anhedral wings typically are unstable, this eect can be negated by increasing leading edge sweep angle. Every ve degrees of sweep has the same stabilizing eect as one degree of dihedral, so with a signicant sweep, the anhedral instability can be overcome. With a max scramjet operating range up to Mach 15, the minimum sweep angle to ensure the body is within the Mach cone is 86.1 degrees. In order to ensure the aircraft has enough lift at low velocities, heavy lift devices such as aps and leading edge slats will be added if necessary. The airfoil shape itself will be biconvex for optimal performance in the super to hypersonic regime. In section 5.4, the required wing areas under dierent wing loadings with dierent take o masses can be seen. Assuming maximum takeo weight of 304,111 kg using a 25

15

5.3 Design Sizing

In order to calculate the total initial takeo mass, Equation 5.1 the rocket equation was used. v = ve ln( m0 ) m1 (5.1)

In this equation, v is the total velocity change, ve is the eective exhaust velocity (equal to the specic impulse multiplied by Earths standard gravity), m0 is the initial mass, and m1 is the nal mass. It was assumed that the rocket engines used would have a specic impulse similar to that of the space shuttle engines which have a specic impulse of 452.3 seconds. The orbital velocity in low earth orbit at an altitude of 400 km is 7.67 km/s. The Earths rotation velocity is approximately 0.47 km/s at the equator. The vehicle will utilize the ramjet/scramjet engine to reach Mach 15 before ring the rocket engines which gives the vehicle an initial velocity of 4.75 km/s. Utilizing the initial velocity and Earths rotational velocity results in a required delta V of 2.45 km/s to reach LEO. This information was used to nd the required initial mass to utilize the rocket based on the initial conditions. A contingency from 10% to 40% was added to account for the ramjet/scramjet fuel. Since the specic fuel consumption of a ramjet or scramjet is not known, especially when using a LACE system, it is dicult to estimate an exact number. This contingency range was chosen to represent the high and low ends of the spectrum. A preliminary estimation was performed to verify this range. Using a thrust to weight ratio of 1, a specic impulse of 1550 which was found to be typical of a ramjet/scramjet [10], and a lift to drag ratio of 7 which is similar to that of a Concorde. Using the 100,000 kg payload with 10% structural contingency gives a total thrust available of 2,678,428 N for a net thrust of 2,295,796 N. Using a fuel ow rate of 176 kg/s results in a total fuel mass of approximately 40% of the total initial mass. This veries the initial contingency range. The total mass estimates with contingencies can be found in Table 5.1. Table 5.1: Total Mass Sizing (kg) Mass with Contingency 10% 40% 105,136 114,693 119,472 157,704 172,040 179,209 210,271 229,387 238,945 133,809 145,974 152,056 200,714 218,960 228,084 267,618 291,947 304,111

Payload Mass 50,000 50,000 50,000 75,000 75,000 75,000 100,000 100,000 100,000

Mass Percentage 10% 20% 25% 10% 20% 25% 10% 20% 25%

Structural Mass 55,000 60,000 62,500 82,500 90,000 93,750 110,000 120,000 125,000

Initial Mass 95,578 104,267 108,611 143,367 156,400 162,917 191,156 208,534 217,222

Under a worst case scenario, the ramjet/scramjet engine will act like a rocket. Under standard conditions, the ramjet/scramjet is much more fuel ecient than a rocket due to its airbreathing nature. The rocket equation, Equation 5.1 was used to simulate a worst case scenario in terms of fuel consumption. Using an Is p of 1550, an initial takeo mass of 304,111, and a nal

16

mass of 217,222 when the vehicle is at Mach 15 in the stratosphere prior to ring the rocket engine yields a total v of 5.11 km/s. In the stratosphere, Mach 15 corresponds to 4.43 km/s. Since the vehicle takes o at around Mach 1 at sea level, there is an initial velocity of 341 m/s which yields a total v to Mach 15 of 4.09 km/s. Again utilizing Equation 5.1 indicates that the initial takeo mass required to achieve Mach 15 is 284,308 kg. This is a margin of 19,804 kg of fuel. This margin should be even greater in reality due to the greater eciency of ramjets/scramjets.

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5.4 Wing Loading and Speed Variations

The wing loading can be considered since the range of possible masses has been found. The fast that an aircraft travels, the more lift is produced by each unit of area on each wing. This allows a smaller wing to carry the same weight in operating with a high wing loading. Since this aircraft will be mostly composed of a large blunt body creating compression lift, the wings can be even smaller, further increasing wing loading. The aircraft is also being launched from the runway at Mach 1 which reduces the requirement of having the wings create a lot of lift at low speed, further increasing wing loading. Historically, the heavy lift vehicles tend to have very high wing loading parameters in the area of approximately 500-800 kg/m2 . The space shuttle had a wing loading value of 586 kg/m2 . For this reason, this range of wing loadings will be considered. Table 5.2 shows the range of wing areas in square meters under dierent wing loadings using the 10% mass contingency values found in Table 5.1. Table 5.2: Wing Area Variations (m2 ) with Dierent Wing Loads at 10% Mass Contingency Wing Loading (kg/m2 ) 500 650 800 210.3 229.4 238.9 315.4 344.1 358.4 420.5 458.8 477.9 161.7 176.5 183.8 242.6 264.7 275.7 323.5 352.9 367.6 131.4 143.4 149.3 197.1 215.1 224.0 262.8 286.7 298.7

10% Mass Contingency (kg) 105,136 114,693 119,472 157,704 172,040 179,209 210,271 229,387 238,945

Table 5.3 shows the range of wing areas in square meters under dierent wing loadings using the 40% mass contingency values found in Tables 5.1. Table 5.3: Wing Area Variations (m2 ) with Dierent Wing Loads at 40% Mass Contingency Wing Loading (kg/m2 ) 500 650 800 267.6 291.9 304.1 401.4 437.9 456.2 535.2 583.9 608.2 205.9 224.6 233.9 308.8 336.9 350.9 411.7 449.1 467.9 167.3 182.5 190.1 250.9 273.7 285.1 334.5 364.9 380.1

40% Mass Contingency 133,809 145,974 152,056 200,714 218,960 228,084 267,618 291,947 304,111

As shown in Table 5.2 and Table 5.3, the wing area can vary from 131 m2 to 608 m2 depending on the wing loading and total takeo mass. Since the wings are required to be rather small due to sweep angle restrictions, high wing loadings are more ideal. A wing loading value of 800 kg/m2 is therefore reasonable, especially since mag-lev rails are accelerating the vehicle to Mach 18

1 prior to takeo. With large wing areas, most of the area will be composed of the length rather than wingspan, again due to the limitations on sweep angle. This is also rather convenient since scramjets typically have to be very long in order to function properly.

5.5 Staging
This conceptual aircraft is essentially a single stage to orbit aircraft since none of the stages are jettisoned and most rely on each other. The initial stage will be the mag-lev rail used to accelerate the vehicle to Mach 1. At this point the vehicle ignites the ramjet engine and leaves the rail. In the ramjet conguration, the engine must compress the air to approximately 140 atmospheres in order to liquidize the oxygen and cool it before entering the combustion chamber to ensure the components will not melt. The engine will utilize a precooler heat exchanger to perform this task. Excess LOX will be stored in oxidizing tanks for later use with the rocket engine. When Mach 5 is achieved, the bae and intake shape will change so that the air in the combustion chamber is supersonic and the scramjet can be used. The scramjet will accelerate the vehicle to Mach 15 and an altitude of approximately 25 kilometers where the air becomes too thin and oxygen deprived to reliably use air breathing engines. At this point, the air intake will be completely closed to make the vehicle as aerodynamic as possible. The rocket engines will be red, giving the vehicle a boost to 7.67 km/s needed to reach orbital altitude. The rocket engines will produce around 300 tonnes of thrust during this nal stage in order to ensure that the orbital altitude is achieved. These velocities and staging points were calculated using the supersonic, hypersonic, and rocket equations to maximize eciency and fuel consumption. These calculations can be found in the previous section (Wing Loading and Speed Variations).

5.6 Preliminary Aerodynamics

Since the vehicle exits the transonic regime into the supersonic regime while still on the mag-lev track, subsonic aerodynamics are not of primary concern. Supersonic lift is generated strictly as a function on angle of attack and freestream Mach number. Just after takeo at a 12 degree angle of attack and a Mach number of 1.05 yields a lift coecient of 2.6. As the Mach number increases, the lift coecient decreases. At Mach 5 with 12 degrees angle of attack, the lift coecient drops to just 0.17. The drag coecient can similarly be modeled and will be high near the transonic regime which a value of 0.383 at Mach 1.05 dropping to just 0.036 at Mach 5. Equation 5.2 and Equation 5.3 were the approximations used to nd the supersonic lift and drag coecients respectively. cl = 4
2 1 M

(5.2)

cd =

42
2 1 M

(5.3)

It is dicult to estimate exactly what the lift and drag coecients will be in the hypersonic regime since these will primarily be a function of the body shape and the eciency at which it produces compression lift. Ideally, for a maximum coecient of lift, the vehicle will be at an extremely high angle of attack of 54.7 degrees which will be maintained until the 25 kilometer altitude. This is similar to a at plate estimation which is the best approximation available with

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the given information. At this angle of attack, the normal coecient is 1.33, the lift coecient is 0.77, and the drag coecient is 1.085. The angle of attack can be altered to change the lift and drag coecients to suit the needs of the mission. Equation 5.4, Equation 5.5, and Equation 5.6 were used to nd the normal coecient, lift coecient, and drag coecient approximations in the hypersonic regime. Figure 5.2 shows the Newtonian ow eld over a at plate which was used to calculate the lift, drag and normal forces. cN = 2 sin2 (5.4)

cl = cN cos

(5.5)

cd = cN sin

(5.6)

Figure 5.2: Newtonian Flow Field over a Flat Plate Courtesy of Anderson [12] Though this yields a maximum lift coecient, the drag coecient is also extremely high. If a much more moderate angle of attack of 20 degrees is chosen, the result is a lift coecient of 0.22 and a drag coecient of 0.075. At lower angles of attack, there is a much better lift to drag ratio which is ideal for this aircraft. This tradeo between lift and drag derived from Newtonian theory can be found in Figure 5.3

Figure 5.3: Lift and Drag Predictions Derived from Newtonian Theory Courtesy of Anderson [12] 20

The thrust to weight ratio will initially be approximately 0.667 initially after takeo. This equates to approximately 200 tonnes of thrust. As the mass decreases as fuel is burned, the thrust to weight ratio will gradually increase. When the vehicle is converted from a airbreather to a rocket engine, the thrust will increase to approximately 300 tonnes (1,350 kN) which will have a thrust to weight ratio of approximately 1.5 which will increase to 2.4 at engine burnout. This amount of thrust should be capable of inserting the vehicle into orbit. In comparison, the Skylon has an atmospheric thrust to weight ratio of 0.768 and an exoatmospheric thrust to weight ratio ranging from 1.2 to 3. Its takeo weight is 345,000 kg so the thrust characteristics of this vehicle are very similar to that of the Skylon.

5.7 Advanced Aerodynamics

This vehicle will take advantage of a diamond shaped airfoil and body in order to maximize lift in both the supersonic and hypersonic regime. The diamond wedge airfoil has a leading and trailing edge half angle of 10 degrees. With the total length requirement of 52.8 meters determined in the Body and Wing Shape section, this half angle yields a maximum mid chord height of 9.31 meters. If the payload section is cylindrical is oriented horizontally across the 23.87 meter span of the vehicle with added diameter design tolerances (yielding a 9 meter diameter total), the total payload bay section volume would be 1,341.7 m3 . In comparison, the space shuttle payload bay had a diameter or 4.57 meters and a length of 18.3 meters for a total volume of 300 m3 . If constrained by fuel volume, this payload volume can be reduced to fulll these needs. Figure 5.4 gives a visualization of the payload section located inside the main body of the vehicle.

Figure 5.4: CAD Model of the Body of the Vehicle Including the Payload Section Analysis of this airfoil was performed at Mach 2.5 at a 15 degree angle of attack. Figure 5.5 shows how the airfoil was analyzed. Using Prandtl-Meyer expansion fan analysis on the top of the airfoil and a compression shock followed by an expansion fan on the lower surface yielded a lift coecient per unit span of 0.651 and a drag coecient per unit span of 0.217. In comparison, using Equation 5.2 and Equation 5.3 yielding values of 0.457 and 0.120 respectively. As shown, the actual lift an drag coecients from shock analysis are higher than the approximations indicated. The actual L/D from the shock analysis resulted in a value of 3. This body and wing shape can be utilized as a wave rider as well. As long as an angle of attack of 10 degrees is maintained, the upper surface will always be in the shadow of the lower surface. At Mach 15, using the Rankine-Hugoniot relations yields a cp,max value of 1.836. At 10 degrees angle of attack, the leading underside edge is the only surface seen by the ow and that surface is at a -20 degree inclination relative to the ow. With the upper surface parallel

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Figure 5.5: Diamond Airfoil Shock Analysis to the freestream, this yields a cp value of 0.215. The corresponding lift and drag coecients are 0.202 and 0.073 respectively for a total L/D of 2.75. Skin friction drag was estimated using the Boeing reference temperature approach. Equation 5.7 was used to nd the reference temperature. Using this temperature, the dynamic viscosity could be found using Equation 5.8. With this information, the compressible skin friction coecient could be found using Equation 5.9. The skin friction coecient was then used in the drag equation (Equation 5.10) to nd the skin friction drag. This method was performed for the length of 52.8 meters and planform area of 1260 m2 at Mach numbers of 1.2, 5, and 15 with the approximate altitude locations where each respective Mach number will be reached. Table 5.4 shows the breakdown of the skin friction drag data at each point. T 2 = 1 + 0.1198M1 T1 ref Cf = 0.295 =( T 0.75 ) Tref (5.7)

(5.8)

T T [log (Re )]2.45 T T 1 D = v 2 Cf A 2

(5.9)

(5.10)

The total lift produced by this vehicle during various ight conditions can be found in Table 5.5. The lift coecients found in the previous were used to help calculate total lift. Equation 5.11 was used to calculate the total lift. The takeo weight of the vehicle is 304,111 kg. This yields a downforce of 2,980 kN which can easily be overcome by the lift produced. 1 L = v 2 Cl A 2 22 (5.11)

Table 5.4: Skin Friction Drag Data M 1.2 5 15 Altitude (m) 0 15,000 25,000 Density (kg/m3 ) 1.225 0.1936 0.0395 Reynolds number 1.4838E+09 1.0706E+08 6.5022E+08 Cf 1.140E-03 4.570E-04 1.173E-04 Drag (N) 147517 121707 58695

Table 5.5: Total Lift During Dierent Operating Conditions M 1.2 2.5 15 Altitude (m) 0 15000 25000 Density (kg/m3 ) 1.225 0.1936 0.0395 Cl 0.1915 0.651 0.22 Lift (kN) 3,718 6,528 16,597

To ensure that the wing sizing is sucient to allow the aircraft to lifto from the mag lev rail, Equation 5.12 the lift coecient equation was used to solve for the planform area required. The initial takeo weight was used as the lift required. The takeo lift coecient was calculated in the same manner as above using shock analysis and was found to be 0.1915. The density and velocity were taken from the standard atmosphere table at sea level at Mach 1.2. L 304, 111kg 9.8m/s2 = = 0.1915 1 1 2 3 2 2 V S 2 (1.225kg/m )(408.353m/s) (S )

Cl =

(5.12)

Solving Equation 5.12 for the planform area and dividing by the length of 52.8 meters yields a required wingspan of 2.893 meters. With the chosen wing span of 3.6 meters, this yields a margin of 0.7 meters. If desired, the wing sweep angle can be increased to 88.43 degrees, minimizing take o wing span which will further decrease drag. If Equation 5.2 is used, a lift coecient of 1.263 is found at Mach 1.2 with a 12 degree angle of attack. This yields a total span of 0.438 meters which seems like a gross underestimation. The total drag was calculated during three conditions; right after takeo, mid supersonic ight, and the upper regime of hypersonic ight. The drag coecient for each condition was found in the previous sections. Drag for each operating condition was found using Equation 5.10 with Cd instead of Cf . The SABRE engines used on the Reaction Engines Skylon have a capability of producing 1,960 kN at sea level and 2,940 kN in a vacuum. As shown in Table 5.6, the drag on this vehicle far exceeds the thrust capabilities of the SABRE engines. At present time, there are no engines capable of overcoming this drag force. The thrust calculated in the Design Sizing section yielded 2.295 kN of thrust which also cannot overcome the drag produced. Until an engine with a higher thrust output is produced, this design will remain unfeasible. Table 5.6: Total Drag During Dierent Operating Conditions M 1.2 2.5 15 Altitude (m) 0 15000 25000 Density (kg/m3 ) 1.225 0.1936 0.0395 Cd 0.383 0.217 0.075 Drag (kN) 7,436 2,176 5,658

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Chapter 6

Conclusion
Through aerodynamic analysis, it has been shown that this vehicle is capable of performing as a single stage horizontal take o space access vehicle. This vehicle is capable of producing enough lift in the supersonic and hypersonic regime to easily counteract its own weight. At only 52.8 meters long and 23.87 meters wide with a 3.6 meter wing span, this vehicle is smaller than other similar proposed vehicles. The payload bay will have a volume 4.47 times the volume of the space shuttles payload pay. The drag on the vehicle is its major downfall. Current engines may be capable of counteracting thrust in the supersonic regime, but closer to transonic and in the hypersonic regime, the drag overcomes the thrust produced. As engines improve and technology is pushed to new limits, this may no longer be an issue. With wind tunnel testing and further design iterations, the body can be redesigned to more closely resemble a Sears-Haack body while still achieving the same lift as the diamond shape. Aerospike nozzles used for the rocket engine may improve drag as well. Unmanned maglev rails have achieved speeds of approximately Mach 1.5. Some sources say that manned trains will be able to achieve speeds of 1000 mph (Mach 1.3 at sea level) in the near future [11]. While this is technically feasible, there have been no maglev rails built on the scale required for this vehicle. Extremely powerful magnets would also be required to ensure that the vehicle will levitate. Additionally, liquid cooling in the vehicle to reduce temperature would be required unless a metal or alloy with an extremely high melting point was used such as Tungsten (melting point of 3695 K).

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