Flow Regimes over Delta Wings at Supersonic and Hypersonic Speeds

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Abstract
This paper concerns the boundaries between flow regimes for sharp-edged delta wings in supersonic flow and the relation of some predictions of thin-shock-layer theory to these boundaries. In particular, it is shown that the theory predicts that the attachment lines on the lower surface of a thin delta wing at supersonic speeds suddenly jump from just inboard of the leading edges to the centre line in certain flight conditions. In general there is close agreement between the conditions for this jump and the flight conditions corresponding to the change-over from attached flow to the leading-edge separation on the upper surface. Since the movement of the attachment lines on the lower surface must change the position of the sonic line and the nature of the expansion around the edge, it is suggested that the two phenomena are directly related. Thus thin-shock-layer theory can be used to establish the boundaries of the various flow regimes for a wide range of Mach number, incidence and wing sweep. The theory can also be used to predict the effects of wing thickness on leading-edge separation, but here the experimental data is very sparse and somewhat contradictory, so the value of the prediction in the case of thickness requires further investigation.

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