Numerical study on performance of supersonic inlets with various three-dimensional bumps

Abstract

Numerical investigations were performed with a supersonic inlet system installed with a three-dimensional bump which was substituted for a diverter or conventional ramp-type compression systems at Mach 2. The modified inlets were designed to have two oblique shocks and a terminal normal shock followed by a subsonic diffuser, with a circular cross-section throughout. A numerical analysis was conducted to understand the three-dimensional flow field including shock/boundary layer interactions that occur around a three-dimensional bump and to evaluate the performance of the supersonic inlets. The current numerical simulations showed a bump-type inlet based on a conventional ramp-type inlet can provide an improvement in total pressure recovery downstream of the shock/boundary-layer interaction over a ramp-type inlet.