A new concept and preliminary study of variable hypersonic inlet with fixed geometry based on shockwave control

Abstract

The inlet plays a significant role in the hypersonic airbreathing propulsion. A fixed-geometry inlet is troubled by low air-capture ratio and large additional drag while operating below the design Mach number. Whereas a variable-geometry inlet can maximize performance, but adds weight and complexity to the propulsion system. Based on a fluidic shock shape control technique, this paper proposes a new concept of variable hypersonic inlet with fixed geometry, gives the realization scheme, and conducts a preliminary validation. The results show that the control of the external shock system and the effective throat area can be achieved by the self-provided high pressure fluid of the inlet. For an inlet with an operating Mach-number region of 4 to 6, the shock-on-lip condition can be maintained from Mach 5 to Mach 6 with the maximum expense of 1.8% secondary flow ratio, resulting in 20% extra captured mass flow and 8% less forebody drag at low Mach numbers compared with conventional fixed-geometry inlets. Thus, the performance enhancement by using the proposed variable inlet can substantially benefit the acceleration process of hypersonic vehicles at low Mach numbers.