Aerothermal and Structural Dynamic Analysis of High-Speed Flight Vehicles

This chapter gives a brief overview of the state-of-the-art and insight into the key aerothermal issues and challenges for aero-thermal-structural analysis and failure assessment of modern high-speed aerospace vehicles. Approximate engineering methods and computational methods to numerically simulate and understand the physics of high-speed flows surrounding the vehicle and hence, predict aerodynamic heating, the pressure and shear forces, and also the structural response to the aeroheating, aerodynamic and aeroacoustic loads are discussed in the context of the concerns of the aerospace vehicle designer and service life / structural failure analyst. The discussion is focused on those predictive methodologies that can be readily implemented, adequately robust and suitable for somewhat more complex vehicle designs and missions. Example applications, including a real-life application, are presented. Future directions, in particular the analytical / modelling challenges in the use of smart structures (e.g., SMAs for structural response / shape control), active cooling concepts and exotic composite materials for high-speed / performance aerospace vehicles are also discussed.