Parametric Study of Cantilever Plates Exposed to Supersonic and Hypersonic Flows

Analysis of hypersonic flows associated with re-entry vehicles has gained a lot of significance due to the advancements in Aerospace Engineering. An area that is studied extensively by researchers is the simultaneous reduction aerodynamic drag and aero heating in re-entry vehicles. Out of the many strategies being studied, the use of aerospikes at the stagnation point of the vehicle is found to give favourable results. The structural stability of the aerospike becomes important as it is exposed to very high pressures and temperatures. Keeping this in view, the deflection and vibration of an inclined cantilever plate in hypersonic flow is carried out using ANSYS. Steady state pressure distribution obtained from Fluent is applied as load to the transient structural module for analysis. After due validation of the methods, the effects of parameters like flow Mach number, plate inclination and plate thickness on the deflection and vibration are studied. (paper)