Numerical simulation of a two-dimensional S-shaped inlet

Abstract

In order to solve the problem that different operation conditions affect the performance of S-shaped inlet, we have carried out a numerical study on a two-dimensional S-shaped inlet and analysed the influences of incoming Mach number, attack of angle α and the outlet pressure on the performance parameters of the inlet, such as the total pressure recovery coefficient, total compression ratio and the steady-state total pressure distortion index at the exit of inlet. The results show that Ma number and the outlet pressure are the main factors affecting inlet performance. With the increase of Ma number, the total pressure recovery coefficient of inlet decreases from 0.975 to 0.793, the total compression ratio decreases from 1.212 to 1.146, and the steady-state total pressure distortion index increases from 0.0536 to 0.377. The flow energy loss in the inlet increases, the flow uniformity decreases, and the inlet performance becomes worse. With the increase of the outlet pressure, the total pressure recovery coefficient of inlet rises from 0.875 to 0.931, the total compression ratio rises from 1.101 to 1.216, and the steady-state total pressure distortion index decreases from 0.219 to 0.123. The mass flow rate of inlet and airflow loss decrease, and the performance of the inlet improves. We study the influence of different operation conditions on the inlet performance, which provides a certain reference for the performance evaluation of S-shaped inlet.