Abstract :
Inlet performance has an important role in the operation of air-breathing
propulsion systems. In this study, performance of a supersonic axisymmetric mixedcompression
inlet in the supercritical operating condition is numerically studied. The
e ects of free-stream Mach number and engine-face pressure on performance parameters,
including mass
ow ratio, drag coecient, total pressure recovery, and
ow distortion,
are investigated. For this sake, a multi-block density-based nite volume CFD code is
developed, and Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations with Spalart-Allmaras oneequation
turbulence model are employed. The code is validated by comparing numerical
results against other computational results and experimental data for two test cases
of inviscid
ow in a two-dimensional mixed-compression inlet and
ow in an external
compression inlet. Finally, the code is utilized for the investigation of a speci c supersonic
mixed-compression inlet with the design Mach number of 2.0 and length-to-diameter ratio of
3.4. Results revealed that the increment of free-stream Mach number leads to the decrease
in total pressure recovery and drag coecient, while mass
ow ratio and
ow distortion
increase. The e ects of engine-face pressure on performance parameters showed that by
increasing the engine-face pressure, mass
ow ratio and drag coecient remain constant,
while total pressure recovery increases and
ow distortion decreases
