22nd Congress of International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences, Harrogate, UK, 28 August - 1st September, 2000
Paper ICAS 2000-3.2.3

PREDICTION OF X-33 AERODYNAMIC AND AEROTHERMODYNAMIC DEVELOPMENT

R. A Thompson
NASA Langley Research Center, USA

Keywords: x-33, aerodynamic, aerothermal

A review of the experimental and computational studies performed at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC) to support the optimization and benchmarking of the hypersonic aerodynamic and aerothermodynamic databases for the X-33 vehicle is presented. A synoptic of the testing, computational, and analysis capabilities at LaRC applied to these studies is given. Analyses of the hypersonic aerodynamic characteristics, control surface effectiveness, and reaction control system effects are discussed. Experimental measurement of the aerodynamic heating via the global thermographic phosphor technique and development of a hypersonic boundary-layer transition correlation for X-33 is described. Computational results used to complement the experimental program and to assess the vehicle aerodynamic and aerothermodynamic characteristics in flight are presented. The technical findings, impacts, and lessons learned from the studies are discussed.

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