Supersonic inlet buzz margin control of ducted rockets

Abstract

The maximum performance of a supersonic inlet will be achieved when operating as close as possible to its buzz boundary. In order to maintain high performance without crossing the buzz boundary, an active buzz margin predictor and controller is necessary. The goal of a control system is to acquire inlet buzz margin and maintain it as the designated value and predict inlet buzz before it occurs and then take some measures to buzz mitigation or inlet restart. The inlet buzz boundary and the margin of ducted rockets were first discussed and analysed. Then the dynamic mathematical model of a gas flow control system was established. Lastly, the inlet buzz margin controller of a ducted rocket was designed. Simulation results show that there exist anti-regulation characteristics for gas flow control for ducted rockets, and it leads to the particularity of inlet buzz margin control for ducted rockets in contrast to liquid ramjet. The designed inlet buzz margin has to be bigger to avoid the appearing of inlet buzz because of anti-regulation characteristics; otherwise, the inlet buzz phenomenon probably appears. If the inlet buzz of the ducted rocket appears, the command of decreasing fuel flow could not be given immediately; otherwise, the inlet buzz will aggravate.