Investigation of the influence of an S-shaped isolator on the combustion characteristics of a supersonic combustion chamber

Abstract The S-shaped isolator was employed to approximate the reflection process of inlet oblique shock waves within the isolator. Numerical simulations were conducted for two S-shaped isolator-combustor configurations, and the results were compared with those of a straight isolator-combustor configuration. The influence of the S-shaped isolator on combustion characteristics and the backpressure propagation process within the isolator were analyzed, and the combustion flowfields and performance were compared. The results indicate that under cold flow conditions, the total pressure recovery coefficient of the S-shaped isolator is 0.05 lower than that of the straight isolator. Under combustion conditions, the parallel dual-cavity symmetric geometry generated an asymmetric flowfield structure. Compared to the straight isolator configuration, the combustion efficiency of the S-shaped isolator configuration decreased by 17 %, while the total pressure recovery coefficients of the two configurations were comparable. The outlet temperature distribution of the S-shaped isolator combustor was more non-uniform.