Expendable Hypersonic Vehicle Leading Edges with Passive Thermal Management

Affordable and low-risk leading edge solutions are preferred for expendable hypersonic vehicles with military utility. GoHypersonic Inc. (GHI) proposes to build upon their existing vehicle designs by tailoring the internal geometry of conformal and planar leading edges to control conduction into the airframe and reduce thermal deformation of the leading edge hardware. This will improve the current maximum flight speed and duration of a high TRL, lower cost, metallic solution which has previously been designed with conventional manufacturing methods in mind. GHI intends to leverage recent advancements in additive manufacturing to create affordable sophisticated leading edge geometry. The Phase I program will refine the design and narrow the design space set forth by current additive manufacturing capabilities and a Phase II program will include manufacturing a leading edge assembly for a hypersonic vehicle and testing it at representative flight loads to demonstrate a TRL 6 solution. This Program addresses the Hypersonic Focus Area (FA-009) specific needs of: 1) thermal structures integration technology (leading edge design and attachment), 2) manufacturing technology (additive manufacturing), and 3) methods to increase aerodynamic efficiency and reduce drag (sharp leading edge with minimal thermal deflection and reduced aerodynamic uncertainty).