Airframe-propulsion integration methodology for waverider-derived hypersonic cruise aircraft design concepts

A design methodology employed for a practical preliminary-level integration of a conically derived hypersonic waverider airframe with its propulsion system is described. A Mach 9 baseline vehicle is generated using an inverse design approach and the streamline tracing method. Turboramjets are used to accelerate the vehicle from takeoff to a transition speed of Mach 5, where a scramjet takes over and accelerates the vehicle to a hypersonic cruise speed of Mach 9 at an altitude of 30 kin as described by the design mission profile. The integration of the propulsion units and their inlets, with the airframe, are explored and demonstrated by approximately matching the thrust from the low-speed units to that from the high-speed ones. The propulsion-airframe integration forms part of the work toward developing A full practical design methodology for hypersonic cruise aircraft concepts.