Abstract
In this paper, a twin-body fuselage configuration is discussed for advanced supersonic transport. This twin-body fuselage concept is inspired by the wave reduction effect of the supersonic biplane airfoils proposed by Kusunose et al. The wave drag characteristics as well as the wave drag reduction are discussed by inviscid CFD computations at our design Mach number of 1.7 utilizing an aerodynamic design optimization method. Aerodynamic shape optimizations of single/twin-body fuselages are executed to explore the lowest wave drag configurations. The optimally designed non-axisymmetrical twin-body shows the best aerodynamic performance. Wave drag of our proposed twin-body shows 2/3 that of the Sears-Haack body. It is well known that the Sears-Haack (single) body has the lowest wave drag for given volume and length of the body. The increment of skin friction drag is also discussed for the twin-body fuselage configuration. Based on the total drag analysis, the superiority of the optimal twin-body fuselage configuration over the conventional single-body fuselage configuration is clearly demonstrated.
