A proposed methodology for diverterless supersonic inlet aerodynamic integration with a generic forebody

Abstract

The Diverterless Supersonic Inlet (DSI) is implemented for both supersonic flow compression and boundary layer diversion using a three-dimensional surface known as a bump, along with an appropriately designed cowl lip. In the present work, the bump surface was designed using the Stream Tracing Technique and integrated into a generic forebody. First, simulations with a bump on a flat plate were conducted to determine the design Mach number for the specific bump. The cowl lip was modeled using the bump's shock wave angle at its design Mach number. At this stage, the bump was integrated into a generic forebody.

All numerical solutions of the Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) equations were performed using ANSYS Fluent. The inlet's performance parameters, including total pressure recovery, flow distortion, and mass flow, were evaluated. Both subcritical and critical operating conditions were simulated. The critical operating condition was achieved after some adjustments to the back pressure. Performance investigation involving the angle of attack was conducted under the critical operating condition. For all angles of attack examined here, the pressure distributions along the bump centerline exhibited relatively consistent behavior. However, changes were more pronounced for positive angles of attack than for negative ones. The results showed that the bump surface can maintain operational shock structures even at high supersonic angles of attack.