Air-breathing wide-range vehicle configuration concepts with double-sided inlet based on the waverider theory

Air-breathing wide-range vehicles have garnered widespread attention for their long voyages, high specific impulse, and broad flight envelope. Such vehicles must operate in different airspace and speed environments. Based on the cone-derived waverider theory, this paper proposes two double-sided intake configurations suitable for wide-range flight: one with jettisonable fuel tanks and inlets, and the other as a full-waverider reversible double-sided intake. Both configurations have similar design processes. Subsequently, numerical methods are used to assess their feasibility. Pressure contours and aerodynamic coefficients at different Mach numbers show that both configurations exhibit excellent wave-riding characteristics during Mach 7 high-speed and Mach 5 low-speed cruises. The first vehicle changes from a double-sided intake to a dorsal intake configuration with full wave-riding characteristics on its lower surface by jettisoning one inlet and spent auxiliary fuel tank. This strategy not only addresses the weight issues caused by the double inlets but also achieves a maximum lift-to-drag ratio of over four at both cruising points. The second vehicle utilizes full-waverider theory for both upper and lower surfaces. This configuration allows simultaneous wave-riding of the airframe and inlet at both cruises and possesses higher positive lift than the like-rotating-body configuration. In particular, the newly refined configuration shows an improvement of over 6 % in the maximum lift-to-drag ratio during cruise compared to the like-rotating-body configuration. Moreover, the Mach 7 waverider surface has a larger wall compression angle than the Mach 5 surface, resulting in significantly better aerodynamic performance for both configurations at Mach 7 compared to Mach 5.