Similarity Analysis for Two-Dimensional Hypersonic Inlets Restart

Abstract

The restart ability of inlets is significant to the robustness of hypersonic airbreathing vehicles. Classic starting theories based on the one-dimensional and inviscid flow assumption cannot predict the restart boundary accurately. To overcome the classic theories, the restart characteristics of two-dimensional contraction ducts in viscous flow are numerically studied. The restart boundaries for different configurations and flow conditions are determined, and the restart similarity laws are discovered. With the proposed dimensionless quantities (the dimensionless cowl length and the effective throat-entrance area ratio), the influences of multiple factors on restart are described simultaneously in a concise self-similar formulation. The restart characteristics can be described with any two variables in cowl angle, dimensionless cowl length, and effective area ratio. The restarts of two-dimensional inlets are classified into three types of the short-cowl, transitional, and long-cowl restarts according to the features of restart boundary lines and the flow structure. The three restart types are dominated by the competition between the cowl shock system and cowl tail expansion waves, the cowl shock system alone, and the complementation between the cowl shock system and throat choke, respectively. The wall pressure criteria for restart are correlated with the dimensionless cowl length and the characteristic separation scale at the restart critical state. It is observed that Kantrowitz limit is not generalizable for restart boundaries.