Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Aerospace

Author ORCID Identifier

Douglas Hunsaker  https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8106-7466  

Volume

13

Issue

4

Publisher

MDPI AG

Publication Date

4-15-2026

Journal Article Version

Version of Record

First Page

1

Last Page

55

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to present the development of an engineering level code for calculating hypersonic aerodynamics and convective heating, HI-Mach. Novel to this paper are the use of analytic methods for streamline tracing and the direct differentiation of geometric sensitivities for both forces and heat load. Independent panel inclination methods calculate the pressure distribution on the surface of a hypersonic vehicle. Normal shock relations provide the thermodynamic state on each panel. Streamlines are integrated using closed-form streamline equations. Flat plate formulas corrected for compressibility calculate the skin friction coefficient and acreage heat flux on each panel. Formulas for heating on stagnation points and lines, including effects of ellipticity and sweep, are used to calculate stagnation region heating. A method for obtaining the sensitivities of a quantity of interest with respect to the geometry in a hypersonic panel code is described. These are obtained using direct analytical derivatives. The approach is precise and has been thoroughly tested against finite differencing. HI-Mach provides results orders of magnitude faster than would be obtained by CFD. Results from HI-Mach are analyzed and compared to experimental results for the HL-20 lifting body geometry. For the aerodynamic characteristics, HI-Mach predicted force coefficients within 12% of experimental results at 𝑀∞=4.5 and 21% at 𝑀∞=1.6. Heating results for the HL-20 match experimental and CFD results to within 20% over a wide range of operating conditions.

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