General text books on aerodynamics do not usually include a
development of the theory behind the supersonic area rule.
The first item below is the primary reference for the D2500 program.
The second item below is the best textbook coverage of the supersonic area rule.
The third and fourth references are the detailed description of the
computational technique behind the computer program.
Ashley, Holt; and Landahl, Marten:
Aerodynamics of Wings and Bodies.
Addison Wesley, 1965 (Now available from Dover in low-cost edition).
Eminton, Evelyn:
On the Minimisation and Numerical Evaluation of Wave Drag.
Report No. Aero. 2564, Royal Aircraft Establishment, Nov. 1955.
Eminton, Evelyn:
On the Numerical Evaluation of the Drag Integral.
R. & M. No. 3341,
Ministry Of Aviation, Aeronautical Research Council 1963.
Eminton, E., and Lord, W.T.:
Note on the Numerical Evaluation of the Wave Drag of Smooth Slender
Bodies Using Optimum Area Distributions for Minimum Wave Drag.
Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society,
vol.60, no.541, Jan 1956, pp. 61-63.
Craidon, Charlotte B.:
User's Guide for a Computer Program for Calculating the Zero-lift
Wave Drag of Complex Aircraft Configurations.
NASA Technical Memorandum 85670, Nov. 1983.
[For a version of the Langley wave drag program, but not
exactly this one. ed.]
Von Kármán, T:
The Problem of Resistance in Compressible Fluids.
Reale Accademia d'Italia, Convegno di Scienze Fisiche, Matematiche e Naturali sul terra,
vol XIII, 1935, pp.210-265.
Whitcomb, Richard T.:
A Study of the Zero-Lift Drag-Rise Characteristics of
Wing-Body Combinations Near the Speed of Sound.
NACA Research Memorandum L52H08,
September 3, 1952.
Nelson, Robert L.:
Large-Scale Flight Measurements of Zero-Lift Drag at Mach
Numbers from 0.86 to 1.5 of a Wing-Body Combination having a
60-degree Triangular Wing with NACA 65A003 Sections.
NACA Research Memorandum L50D26, June 1, 1950.
Morrow, John D.; and Nelson, Robert L.:
Large-Scale Flight Measurements of Zero-Lift Drag of
10 Wing-Body Configurations at Mach Numbers from 0.8 to 1.6.
NACA Research Memorandum L52D18a, January 15, 1953.
Lomax, Harvard:
The Wave Drag of Arbitrary Configurations in Linearized Flow
as Determined by Areas and Forces in Oblique Planes.
NACA Research Memorandum A55A18, March 24, 1955.
Byrd, Paul F.:
Theoretical Wave Drag of Shrouded Airfoils and Bodies.
NACA Technical Note 3718, June 1956.
Whitcomb,Richard T.:
A Study of the Zero-Lift Drag-Rise Characteristics of Wing-Body
Combinations Near the Speed of Sound.
NACA Report 1273, 1956.
Jones, Robert T.:
Theory of Wing-Body Drag at Supersonic Speeds.
NACA Report 1284, 1956.
Whitcomb, Richard T.:
A Fuselage Addition to Increase Drag-Rise Mach Number of
Subsonic Airplanes at Lifting Conditions.
NASA Technical Note 4290, June 1958.
Levy, Lionel L.:
Supersonic and Moment-of-Area Rules Combined for Rapid Zero-Lift Wave-Drag Calculations.
NASA Memorandum 4-19-59A, June 1959.
Whitcomb, Richard T., and Sevier, John R.:
A Supersonic Area Rule and an Application to the Design of a
Wing-Body Combination with High Lift-Drag Ratios.
NASA Technical Report 72, 1960.
Nielsen, Jack N.: Missile Aerodynamics. McGraw-Hill, 1960, pp 297-302.
(Reprinted by NEAR, 1988). (Distributed by AIAA)
Harris, Roy V., Jr.:
A Numerical Technique for Analysis of Wave Drag at Lifting Conditions.
NASA Technical Note D-3586, October 1966.
Dickey, Robert R. and Levy, Lionel L., Jr.:
The Effect on the Drag of a Wing-Body Combination of
Moment-Of-Area-Rule Modifications with Pods
Ducted to Simulate Engine Nacelles.
NASA Technical Note D-308, February 1960.
Lord, W.T.:
On the Design of Wing-Body Combinations of Low Zero-Lift Drag Rise at Transonic Speeds.
R. & M. No. 3279,
Ministry of Aviation, Aeronautical Research Council, 1962.
Nelson, R.L., and Welch, C.J.:
Some Examples of the Transonic and Supersonic Area Rule.
NASA Technical Note D-446, September 1960.
COSMIC Program Distribution LAR-13666.
Barger, Raymond L.; and Adams, Mary S.:
Fuselage Design for a Specified Mach-Sliced Area Distribution.
NASA Technical Paper 2975, February 1990.
Barger, Raymond L.:
Method for Designing Blended Wing-Body Configurations for Low Wave Drag.
NASA Technical Paper 3261, September 1992.
Rallabhandi, Sriram K.; and Mavris, Dimitri N.:
An Unstructured Wave Drag Code for Preliminary Design of Future Supersonic Aircraft.
AIAA-2003-3877, June 2003.
Adams, M.C.:
Determination of Shapes of Boattail Bodies of Revolution.
NACA Technical Note 2550, 2999.
Lomax, Harvard; and Heaslet, Max.:
A Special Method for Finding Body Distortions that Reduce the
Wave Drag of Wing and Body Combinations at Supersonic Speeds.
NACA Report 1282, May 1956.
Morris, John; and Nelson, Robert:
Large-Scale Flight Measurements of Zero-Lift Drag of
10 Wing-Body Configurations at Mach Numbers from 0.8 to 1.6..
NACA Research Memorandum L52D18, Jan.1953.
Lomax, Harvard; and Heaslet, M.B.:
Recent Developments in the Theory of Wing-Body Wave Drag.
Journal of the Aeronautical Sciences, Vol. 23, No. 12, pp. 1061-1074, 1956.
Miele, Angelo:
Theory of Optimum Aerodynamic Shapes. Academic Press, 1965.
Von Karman, Thoedore:
The Problem of Resistance in Compressible Fluids,
Convegno di Scienze Fisiche, Matematiche e Naturali sul terra:
Le Alte Velocita in Aviazione, Reale Accademia d'Italia, Roma, 1935, p.210-265.
Ferrari, C.:
On the Determination of the Projectile of Minimum Wave Drag,
Parts 1 and 2 (in Italian), Atti della Reale Accademia delle Scienze di Torino,
Vols. 74 and 75, 1939.
Haack, W.:
Projectile Shapes for Smallest Wave Drag, Brown University,
Graduate Division of Applied Mathematics, Translation No. A9-T-3, 1948.
Lighthill, M. J.:
Supersonic Flow past Bodies of Revolution.
ARC, RM No. 2003, 1945.
Sears, W. R.:
On Projectiles of Minimum Wave Drag,
Quarterly of Applied Mathematics, Vol. 4, No. 4, 1947.
Ferrari, C.:
On the Problem of the Fuselage and the Ogive of Minimum Wave Drag (in Italian),
Atti della Accademia delle Scienze di Torino, Vol. 84, 1949-50.
Ferrari, C.:
On the Determination of the External Form of the Axisymmetric
Duct of Minimum Drag in Linearized Supersonic Flow for Given Conditions
Imposed on the Meridian Contour (in Italian),
Memorie della Accademia delle Scienze di Torino, 1955.
Parker, H. M.:
Minimum-Drag Ducted and Pointed Bodies of Revolution
Based on Linearized Supersonic Theory
NACA Report No. 1213, 1955.
Parker, H. M.:
Minimum-Drag Ducted and Closed Three-Point Body of
Revolution Based on Linearized Supersonic Theory
NACA Technical Note No. 3704, 1956.
Harder, K. C.; And Rennemann, C., Jr.:
On Boattail Bodies of Revolution Having Minimum Wave Drag.
NACA Report No. 1271, 1956.
Heaslet, M. A.:
The Minimization of Wave Drag for Wings and Bodies with
Given Base Area or Volume.
NACA Technical Note No. 3289, 1957.
Heaslet, M. A.; and Fuller, F. B.:
Drag Minimization for Wings and Bodies in Supersonic Flow.
NACA Report No. 1385, 1958.
Soehngen, H.:
The Solutions of the Integral Equation
g(x) = (1/27T) f-a [M)/ (x - 6)] d6 and Its Application to Wing Theory (in German),
Mathematische Zeitschrift, Vol. 45, No. 2, 1939.
Tricomi, F. G.:
On the Finite Hilbert Transformation.
Quarterly Journal of Mathematics, Vol. 2, No. 7, 1951.
Tricomi, F. G.:
Elliptic Functions (in Italian),
Vol. 2, Nicola Zanichelli Editore, Bologna, 1950.
Erdelyi, A.; Magnus, W.; Oberhettinger, F.; And Tricomi, F. G.:
Higher Transcendental Functions,
Vol. 2, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York,
1953.