Alleviation of lateral spillage of two-dimensional hypersonic inlet using waverider-configuration chines

Abstract

Hypersonic inlet is an important part of the propulsion system of hypersonic air-breathing vehicles. However, the performance of the two-dimensional hypersonic inlet, a major type of hypersonic inlets, is considerably deteriorated for lateral spillage. In this study, waverider-configuration chines mounted on the lateral sides of a two-dimensional three-staged external-compression hypersonic inlet for a Mach number of 6.0 are investigated to determine their ability to alleviate the lateral spillage. The chines are built by using a waverider design method. The numerical results suggest that a severe flow spillage induced by three-dimensional effect shows up near the lateral edge of the inlet without chines, which degrades the mass-flow ratio and flow uniformity. In contrast, the waverider-configuration chines effectively alleviate the lateral spillage. Consequently, the mass-flow ratio and the flow uniformity are both improved significantly.