Validation of numerical simulations for investigating flow control in hypersonic inlets

Abstract

Various flow control devices have been conceived for hypersonic inlets to suppress the inlet unstart and reduce the total pressure loss over the wide range of operating conditions of hypersonic systems. In particular, bleed systems that remove the low-momentum portion of the flow have drawn attention because they effectively reduce shock-induced flow separation and suppress inlet unstart. Numerical simulations are crucial for investigating the effectiveness of different bleed configurations in hypersonic inlets during the design phase. However, the flow structure in these inlets and the effect of the bleed on the flow are challenging to predict due to complicated factors such as shock-wave/boundary-layer interactions and compressibility effects. Moreover, since the boundary conditions, turbulence model, and turbulence corrections affect the numerical results, the most appropriate model can be difficult to determine. Therefore, a numerical solver was developed and evaluated on a series of validation cases with available experimental data to establish the fidelity of the numerical simulations. Seven validation cases, ranging from an elementary configuration involving a flat plate to a complex configuration involving a flat plate with a porous bleed and plenum chamber, were investigated. The flat plate flow numerical results, including the turbulent boundary layer and shock-wave/laminar boundary-layer interactions, were consistent with previous experimental and numerical results. However, in the hypersonic inlet cases, the actual physical phenomena could not be represented without considering compressibility and streamline curvature effects, which depend on the hypersonic inlet configuration. Thus, the effects of turbulence corrections on the numerical results of various hypersonic inlet configurations were examined. For cases with rapid expansion near the inlet throat or inlets with curved walls, compressibility or rotation/curvature corrections were necessary to accurately capture the size of the recirculation zone and reproduce the wall pressure data and shock structure along the flow path. However, for bleed flows on flat plates, the simulations were accurate without applying turbulence corrections. Thus, these turbulence corrections should be applied only when rapid expansion occurs or the wall near the shock-induced separation zone is curved. This paper provides the best practice appropriate for various supersonic, hypersonic flow cases, and can be utilized in future numerical studies on hypersonic inlet boundary layer control.