Design method with controllable velocity direction at throat for inward-turning inlets

Abstract

In the design of a hypersonic inward-turning inlet by applying the traditional basic flow-field, a reflected shock-wave is formed in the isolator due to the continuous reflection of the cowl-reflected shock wave in the basic flow-field, which interacts with the boundary layer to produce a considerable influence on the performance of the inlet. Here, a basic flow-field design method that can control the velocity direction at the throat section is developed, and numerical simulations are conducted to demonstrate the effectiveness of this method. The method presented in this paper can achieve the absorption of the reflected waves at the shoulder of the basic flow-field by adjusting the variation law of the center radius in the basic flow-field, and a smooth transition between the compression surface and the isolator can also be produced. The Mach number and total pressure recovery coefficient of the inlet designed according to this method are 3.00 and 0.657, respectively, at design point (the incoming flow Mach number Ma∞ = 6.0). The results show that with this method, the inlet can efficiently weaken both the reflection of the shock wave and the interaction between the boundary layer and the reflected shock waves, which improves the aerodynamic performance of the inlet.