Aerodynamic Heating - Aircraft

Aircraft

Aerodynamic heating is a concern for supersonic and hypersonic aircraft. The Concorde dealt with the increased heat loads at its leading edges by the use of high temperature materials and the design of heat sinks into the aircraft structure at the leading edges. Higher speed aircraft such as the SR-71 deal with the issue by the use of insulating material and material selection on the exterior of the vehicles. Some designs for hypersonic missiles would employ liquid cooling of the leading edges (usually the fuel en route to the engine).