Design and aerodynamic characteristics of variable-geometry hypersonic inlet based on shock wave elimination

To solve the problem that the control of shock wave elimination is weakened under off-design conditions, the design concept of a variable-geometry inlet scheme that combines the variable-geometry cowl (translating and diagonalizing) with regulating shock wave elimination is introduced in this paper. The variable-geometry inlet is designed by the theories of oblique shock wave and isentropic wave as well as the Oswatitsch theory. Regulatory law of the variable-geometry cowl based on shock wave elimination is obtained by the geometric relationships between cowl compression angle, cowl shock wave angle, and optimal control point or range. Numerical simulations are conducted to investigate flow field characteristics, control mechanism, and working performance of the inlet. Results reveal that expansion waves have a significant impact on the cowl shock wave and boundary layer interaction, and flow separation. Furthermore, variable-geometry inlet with translating and diagonalizing cowl based on the regulation of shock wave elimination effectively controls and even completely eliminates the flow separation. In terms of inlet performance, the total pressure loss of the variable-geometry inlet decreases such that the total pressure recovery coefficients of the translating cowl and diagonalizing cowl inlets are increased by maximum values of 3.39 % and 9.97 %, respectively. However, the mass flow coefficient of translating cowl inlet decreases, whereas that of the diagonalizing cowl inlet is equivalent to that of the fixed-geometry inlet. The working range can be widened by changing the internal contract ratio of the inlet through translating or diagonalizing the cowl. The results confirm that the scheme of variable geometry inlet with diagonalizing cowl is practicable and reliable and has important guiding significance and value for inlet design.