You are on page 1of 9

Unstart Suppression and Performance Analysis of

Supersonic Air-intake Adopting Bleed and Cowl Bending


S Das, Associate Member
Dr J K Prasad, Fellow
Two-dimensional numerical simulations and experiments are performed to obtain the flow field characteristics
of a mixed compression air-intake at supersonic speed. Simulation with inviscid normal flow indicated start of
intake, whereas, simulation with turbulent flow and experiments indicated unstart of intake. Implementation
of bleed or cowl bending was found necessary for the start of intake. The effect of combining bleed and cowl
bending is studied with free exit flow and as well as with pressurised exit conditions. Experiments adopting
Schlieren and oil flow visualisation and measurement of static and total pressures were obtained for bent
cowl only. All simulations have been made adopting k-ω turbulence model using fluent. A good agreement
between experiments and computations has been established. Results show a definite improvement in flow
quality and performance with adoption of both bleed and cowl bending and hence could be utilised to alleviate
starting problems of intake and also to improve the performance.
Keywords : k-ω turbulence model; Air-intake; Mixed-compression; Bleed; Cowl bending

NOTATIONS TH : throttle (Ae/At)

Ae : area at intake exit x : distance along the length of intake

At : area at intake throat xcl : axial location of cowl tip

FD : flow distortion y : distance along height from intake surface

hc : capture height of intake INTRODUCTION

he : exit height of intake Details of flow field inside air-intake are of vital importance
to estimate the performance of air-breathing engines
me : mass flow rate at intake exit operating in supersonic flight regime. At supersonic speed,
mi : mass flow rate at intake capture the air-intake is expected to compress the ingested
freestream air to a pressure level required for the engine
M : Mach number operation. The adoption of a particular intake is governed by
the requirement of mass flow and pressure by the engine.
P : static pressure Mixed compression mode is generally adopted for operation
at higher Mach numbers due to various reasons. At
PB : back pressure ratio (Pe /Pi)
supersonic speeds, the flow inside the air-intake has
PBS : sustainable back pressure ratio additional complexity due to shock wave-boundary layer
interaction and presence of mixed supersonic-subsonic flows.
Pe : intake exit static pressure The shock wave system formed inside the intake will influence
the overall efficiency. A typical sketch of the flow behaviour
Pi : free stream static pressure inside a mixed compression supersonic air-intake at design
Po : total pressure condition is represented in Figure 1, which shows the overall
complexity of flow existing inside the duct. Efficiency of the
Poe : total pressure at intake exit mixed compression air-intake is characterised by pressure
recovery, flow distortion and mass flow rate. One of the critical
Poi : free stream total pressure issue associated with mixed compression air-intake is the
unstart phenomena which could be due to the various factors,
PR : pressure recovery
that include variations in the operating conditions, viscous-
inviscid interactions, non-sustainable back pressure from
S Das and Dr J K Prasad are with the Department of Space the combustor, etc. Due to the possible flow separation in
Engineering and Rocketry, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, intake, the flow becomes unsteady and may induce
Ranchi, Jharkhand 835 215.
oscillations in flow leading to buzz, which could be
This paper (modified) was received on October 28, 2009. Written detrimental to the performance of intake. Mixed compression
discussion on the paper will be entertained till July 31, 2010. intakes are more susceptible to the unstart phenomena in

Volume 91, May 2010 27


Seperated
Expansion zone Boundary layer COWL surface boundary layer
Mixing region
Oblique shocks

M>1 Combustor
M>1 entry plane

Seperation Reflected
RAMP surface oblique shock

Supersonic diffusion Subsonic diffusion

Figure 1 Intake flow field details

comparison to other modes of compression due to the different bleed system at various locations on hypersonic
presence of shock system and induced flow interactions intake is studied by Pandian, et al13. Shock wave-boundary
inside the duct leading to flow separation. Alleviation of unstart layer with bleed slot interaction studies were reported by
are generally done by adopting boundary layer bleed, fluid Hamed, et al14 and Kim, et al15. Use of micro ramp vortex
injection, variable geometry, isolators, vortex generators, generators to control the boundary layer which improves the
providing spillage through wall perforations, etc. Each of these inlet performance is demonstrated by Babinsky 16 .
methods has its own merits and demerits. The most common Improvement of overall performance adopting a bump in intake
method adopted to improve the starting characteristics is is recently reported by Tillotson, et al17 and Kim18. Studies
through bleeding a small percentage of air at particular made with adoption of cowl deflection angle to improve flow
locations on the intake. quality and performance of supersonic intakes has been
reported by Das and Prasad19,20.
Studies have been made by many researchers to understand
the flow behaviour inside air-intakes. Neale and Lamb1 This clearly shows that the flow control is necessary to
reported systematic experimental results on a two- improve the performance of air-intakes. Studies are reported
dimensional mixed compression intake with different shapes either with adoption of bleed or variable geometry or vortex
diffuser, variable geometry and different bleed geometries generator or bump or cowl bending. However, the studies to
with changing mass flow rates. The intake indicated starting obtain the combined effect, for example, bleed with cowl
behaviour with adoption of cowl translation and bleed. Starting bending is not reported to the best of author’s knowledge.
with characteristics of intakes at supersonic speed were
reported by Kubota, et al2 for a bent cowl with different In the present study, numerical simulations are performed
contraction ratios. Wie, et al3 performed experiments to on a typical 2D mixed compression air-intake using
study the starting behaviour of intakes with variations in cowl Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes solver for inviscid case and
height and length with emphasis on improvement of as well adopting k-ω urbulence model. Limited experiments
performance by fluid injection. Fisher, et al4 and Trapier, et have been made only with cowl bending adopting flow
al5 conducted experimental studies on supersonic inlet buzz visualisation technique and measurements of pressure.
due to unsteady unstart phenomena. Numerical study for Comparison of computed results with experiments and
hypersonic inlet start/unstart has been reported by Daren, improvement in the performance characteristics of intake
et al6. due to cowl bending, bleed and cowl bending with bleed are
presented and discussed.
Hermann, et al7 and Reinartz, et al8 have carried out the
numerical and experimental studies with different isolator GEOMETRICAL DETAILS OF INTAKE
lengths of a hypersonic inlet to improve the flow quality. Use
The air-intake adopted in the present study has similar
of conventional method of bleeding air to improve intake
geometry studied by Neale and Lamb1, which is designed
performance is reported in many literature. Numerical
for Mach number 2.2. The geometrical detail of the intake is
investigation of different bleed models for a mixed
presented in Figure 2. It consists of two external
compression inlet has been reported by Mizukami, et al9
and Vivek and Mittal10. Gawienowski11 conducted series of Cowl
θ5
experiments with different bleed slot size and mass flow
rates to assess the performance of an external compression y θ3
he

θ4
hc

intake at supersonic speeds. Pressure recovery and θ1 θ2 Bleed


distortion levels were estimated and it was found that x
increasing the bleed slot area as well as the bleed mass Supersonic Ramp
flow increases the intake performance. Selection of bleed diffuser Subsonic diffuser
hole geometry and its inclination for an effective and efficient L
bleed system is reported by Syberg, et al12. The effect of Figure 2 Details of intake model

28 IE(I) Journal–AS
compression ramps having angles of θ1 = 7° and θ2=14°. estimated error of measurement of freestream pressure and
The internal surface of the cowl was maintained either parallel Mach number is in the order of 0.6% and 1%, respectively.
to the freestream direction1 or had a deflection angle of θ5 =
2°, such that tip of cowl is deflected away from the centreline COMPUTATIONS
of flow up to the minimum area of the duct (intake throat). Two-dimensional numerical simulations were made to
Inside the subsonic diffuser, upper wall is parallel to the capture the flow field inside air-intake using commercial
freestream direction, whereas, the lower wall has a turning software FLUENT. The basic geometry of intake was similar
of θ3 = 2.3°, forming first diffuser followed by a second diffuser to the configuration adopted in the experiments.
having a turning of θ4 = 6° with respect to intake centreline Computations are performed using finite volume technique
which provides necessary divergence. Further downstream, to solve compressible Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes
it is followed as a constant area duct. The capture height equations. An explicit coupled solver with upwind
(hc) of intake is 15 mm and overall length (L) of the model is discretisation scheme for the convective terms and second
119 mm. For the experiments, the width of model is 15 mm order central differencing scheme for diffusion terms was
leading to aspect ratio of one. adopted. Simulations were made adopting k-ω turbulence
EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS model, which is generally recommended for computations
of complex flows involving separation and wall bounded high
The experiments were performed using the supersonic wind speed flows21. The computational domain and a typical grid
tunnel at Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi. It is a distribution used during the present computations is
blowdown type wind tunnel having test section size of presented in Figure 4(a). Grids were generated using
50 mm × 100 mm and Mach number ranging from 1.5 to 3. uniformly distributed quadrilateral cells with variation of
Fabrication of the intake model was done using EDM wire spacing in y-direction near the walls. A typical grid distribution
cutting machine which ensured a dimensional accuracy of showing the grid resolutions near the wall is presented in
better than 0.01 mm. The model was made in modules, ie, Figure 4(b). Typical value of y+ on the ramp surface was of
ramp body, cowl body and the sideplates. Different models the order of 30.
were made for flow visualisation and static pressure
measurement. A typical photograph of model without one of The adopted boundary conditions are also shown in
the sideplate is presented in Figure 3. To capture the flow Figure 4(a). Inlet boundary was defined by specifying
inside the intake, side plates made from Plexiglass were stagnation and static pressures corresponding to Mach
used for Schlieren flow visualisation. A suitable mixture using number 2.2. A small freestream turbulent intensity of 0.5%
Ti02, oleic acid and lubricating oil was used for obtaining the and a viscosity ratio of 5 were specified at inlet for the turbulent
surface flow pattern. Schlieren photographs and oil flow computations. Pressure outlet boundary condition was
pattern were photographed using a digital SLR camera. adopted at the bleed outlet and intake outlet. No-slip

Static pressures at several locations on the ramp surface


centreline were measured by providing pressure ports of Pressure
0.8 mm diameter and using a multi-channel mercury outlet Cowl wall
manometer. Pitot pressure measurements at the centreline Pressure Pressure
inlet outlet
and exit of intake was made using a pitot rake. Throttling at Pressure
the exit could be done by traversing a blunt plug from the Ramp outlet
wall (Bleed)
exit in order to make studies at different back pressures.
The blocked area at the intake exit depends upon the axial
(a) computational domain
location of the plug. All the tests were made at a fixed Mach
number of 2.2 and Reynolds number of 3.8 × 107/m, with a
freestream total pressure of 3.5 × 105 N/m2, which was
measured using a Sensym made ASCX150DN pressure
sensor, which was calibrated using a manometer. The

Cowl body

Sideplate

Plug
Ramp body
(b) grids near wall

Figure 3 Photograph of model Figure 4 Grid distribution and boundary conditions

Volume 91, May 2010 29


boundary conditions were enforced at all the solid walls. residuals of continuity and turbulent kinetic energy were
Computations are made for free flow and also with monitored, in addition to mass flux and y+ value on the ramp
pressurised exit condition by specifying the pressure at the surface to ensure the solution convergence. A four-stage
exit. For free exit flow, the flow variables at the exit were multi-grid was adopted for faster convergence. The typical
extrapolated from interior grids as the flow is supersonic. In monitor for the converged mass flux, y+ values and RMS
case of computation with back pressure, a pre-defined back residuals has been represented by Figure 5.
pressure was enforced by specifying flow condition
corresponding to subsonic flow. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Grid sensitivity studies were made adopting different grids Intake geometry adopted in the present investigation is similar
which indicated that a typical grid (630 × 90) was sufficient to the earlier discussions1, which reports experimental
for the present computation. During the computations, the results with bleed using different bleed geometries and
various lengths of subsonic diffuser. To validate the present
3
computations, data for 2.8% bleed mass flow at freestream
Mach number of 2.2 has been used. Necessary flow
2.5 conditions were simulated and computations were made with
a specific step bleed (SB) having similar geometry and
2 location of bleed, with supercritical operation of intake, as
Mass flux

reported1. Comparison of the calculated Mach number based


1.5 on freestream total pressure reported in experiments1 and
obtained through present computations is presented in
1 Figure 6, which indicates a fairly good agreement. Typical
computed density gradient contour showing the overall flow
0.5 field in the vicinity of bleed region is shown in Figure 7. This
indicates the sufficiency of grids being adopted and turbulence
0 model used for present computations.
0 500 1000 1500 2000
Iterations
2
Cowl Mach number (based on freestream total

(a) net mass flux Experiment (SB)1


100
Computation (SB) – present
90 1.8
80
Wall y+ (ramp surface)

70
1.6
pressure)

60
50
40 1.4
30
20
10 1.2
0
0 500 1000 1500 2000
1.0
Iterations
0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14
(b) wall y+ on ramp surface
1e+00 Distance downstream from cowl tip, x(m)
Residual continuity Figure 6 Comparison of computed results with experiments
k
1e–01

1e–02 Cowl tip shock

1e–03

1e–04 Terminal
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000 normal shock

Iterations
(c) RMS residuals Step bleed duct

Figure 5 Convergence history Figure 7 Computed density gradient contour

30 IE(I) Journal–AS
Figure 8 Density gradient contour obtained through inviscid
computation without cowl bending

Computation for inviscid case and free exit flow made for
basic intake geometry1, indicates a start of intake as seen
(a) Schlieren with cowl bending (θ5 = 2°)
from the density gradient contour shown in Figure 8.
Experiments as well as simulations with k-ω turbulence
model on this geometry were made. Schlieren and density
gradient contour presented in Figure 9 indicates unstart of
intake observed with expulsion of the entire internal shock
system of the intake. The contraction limit of the supersonic
diffuser for the present geometry is within the limit for start
of intake given by Kantrowitz22 which is confirmed by the (b) density gradient contour using k-ω turbulence model for θ5 = 2°
results obtained through inviscid computation. However, this
intake configuration indicates unstart in both experiments
and turbulent computations, which could be attributed to
the presence of separated flow due to strong interaction
between the reflected cowl shock with the boundary layer
on ramp and generally referred as soft unstart of intake. (c) density gradient contour for bleed using k-ω turbulence model

Attempt was made to change the flow inside the intake by


Figure 10 Flow starting by cowl bending and bleed
providing a small bend to the cowl which will alter the location
and strength of impinging shock on the ramp. This could
computations were made with 1.8% bleed by providing bleed
soften the interaction of shock with boundary layer and hence
hole just ahead of the region of interaction. Density contour
will reduce the extent of separation. Schlieren photograph
shown in Figure 10(c) also indicates the start of intake. The
with provision of cowl bending of 2° is presented in
external compression shocks in experiments is slightly
Figure 10(a), which indicates the start of intake. The internal
different which could be attributed to the presence of observed
shock reflections seen in the photograph confirms proper
additional compression due to the sideplate existing in
diffusion in the duct. An additional shock just ahead of cowl
experiments. Comparison of pressure distribution on the ramp
tip shock on ramp surface due to separation is also seen.
surface for bent cowl is presented in Figure 11, which also
Computations made with the same cowl bending angle show
shows the difference in pressures on the leading part of
similar trend which is presented in Figure 10(b). Also, the
second ramp surface (x/L=0.1 to 0.15). However, overall
comparison shows a fairly good agreement.

4
Experiment cowl bending - present
Computation cowl bending - present

3
P/Pi

Schlieren

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x/L
density gradient contour using k-ω turbulence model
Figure 11 Comparison of computed and measured pressure
Figure 9 Flow unstart without cowl bending distribution on ramp with cowl bending of 2°

Volume 91, May 2010 31


7 5
Design geometry
Bleed
6 Cowl bending
Cowl bending with bleed 4

5
3
4
P/Pi

P/Pi
2
3

2 1 Bleed
Cowl bending
Cowl bending with bleed
1
0
0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 (x– xcl )/hc

x/L Figure 13 Pressure distribution in the vicinity of interaction


zone
Figure 12 Computed pressure distribution ramp surface
0.25
Design geometry
Once the results indicated that cowl bending or bleed starts Bleed
the intake, attempt has been made to study the details of Cowl bending
flow field with adoption of both the techniques. The computed 0.2 Cowl bending with bleed
pressure distributions on ramp wall for all the cases, ie,
basic geometry (without bleed or cowl bending), bleed
(1.8%), cowl bending (2°) and with bleed (1.8%) and cowl 0.15
y/hc

bending (2°), are shown in Figure 12. The increase in pressure


on the second ramp at x/L=0.15 without cowl bending or
bleed, suggests the presence of a strong normal shock and 0.1
also indicates unstart. Whereas, incorporation of either bleed
or cowl bending or combination of cowl bending and bleed
shows a proper supersonic diffusion throughout the duct with 0.05
the presence of series of pressure jumps. The trend is similar
to the results seen for corresponding Schlieren and density
0
gradient contours (Figure 10). It is seen that bleeding of
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
1.8% air alleviates the unstart problem, however, the presence
of adverse pressure gradient exists which could be P0/P0i
susceptible to flow interactions downstream. Provision of Figure 14 Profile of total pressure just ahead of throat
cowl bending reduces the adverse pressure peak and moves
1
the interaction zone downstream. Considerable reduction in
shock strength and interaction is seen for the case of
combined bleeding and cowl bending. Closer view of flow
0.8
field in the vicinity of interaction zone is presented in Figure 13.
The improvement in flow pattern could be observed through Design geometry
the better distribution observed for combined case (ie, bleed 0.6
Bleed
and cowl bending) in comparison to either only bleed or only Cowl bending (experimental)
bent cowl. Figure 14 shows the computed total pressure Cowl bending
y/he

distribution at a location near the throat entry. Cowl bending with bleed
0.4

The computed total pressure distribution at the exit of intake


for free exit flow for different cases is presented in Figure 15.
0.2
Results indicate improvement in total pressures for all the
different methods adopted in comparison to design case.
Measurements of total pressures were made at six locations
0
using a pitot rake at the diffuser exit, which is also shown in 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
the same figure. Comparison of two-dimensional computed
P0e/P0i
results with experimental results indicates large difference,
which may be due to the presence of complex flow inside Figure 15 Total pressure distribution at intake exit (free flow)

32 IE(I) Journal–AS
Table 1 Estimated pressure recovery and flow distortion for
free flow exit

Cases Pressure recovery, % Flow distortion,%


Design geometry 83.31 7.53
Bleed (1.8%) 90.26 1.03
Cowl bending of 2° 93.24 1.65 (a) density gradient contour (bent cowl, PBS = 7.7)
Combined bleed and
cowl bending 92.94 1.71

the intake duct and sidewalls in the experiments which


makes the flow highly three dimensional. In general, the
uniformity in the flow at the exit is observed which is better (b) density gradient contour (bleed, PBS = 7.7)
for combined bleeding and cowl bending. The pressure
recovery is one of the parameter which indicates the
performance of intake. From these total pressures, attempt
has been made to obtain pressure recovery using equation
(1) for all the cases.

(c) density gradient contour (bleed and bent cowl, PBS = 8)


(1)
Figure 16 Flow field with pressurised exit

The estimated pressure recovery given in Table 1 shows


increase in performance achieved for bleed, bent cowl and just ahead of cowl tip shock on ramp surface is also seen.
the combination of both for free exit flow. Similarly, the flow Flow separation due to the presence of normal shock appears
uniformity at the exit is an important parameter. The measure to be more severe on the ramp than the cowl surface. It is
of flow uniformity at the exit, which is generally defined as observed that at the sustainable back pressure, the flow is
flow distortion is calculated using the relation given in better behaved for the combined case, ie, bleed with bent
equation (2). The results presented in Table 1 indicates that cowl. Experiments have been conducted to visualise the flow
application of bleed, cowl bending and the combination of at typical throttle ratio TH = 1.14. Schlieren photograph for
both decreases the flow distortion levels at the exit of the intake with bent cowl at a throttle (TH = 1.14) presented in
intake. Figure 17(a), shows the presence of a feeble normal shock
near the throat just downstream of the cowl tip reflected
Hence, the flow distortion oblique shock. Limited clarity is due to use of plexiglass

(2)

To simulate the required combustion pressure of air-breathing


engines, simulation have been made by specifying a back Normal shock
pressure defined by back pressure ratio (PB = Pe/Pi). In the Cowl tip shock
experiment, it could be achieved by throttling the exit (TH =
Ae/At) using a blunt plug. Application of back pressure or
throttling leads to the formation of a normal shock in the
diffuser which will move upstream with increase in the back (a) Schlieren
pressure or throttling. At particular back pressure, the entire
shock system of the duct will be expelled out and the limiting
pressure which will lead to formation of normal shock near
the throat is generally termed as sustainable back pressure
(PBS). Simulations with different back pressure ratios had
to be made to arrive at the value of sustainable back pressure Location of cowl Normal shock trail on
ratio for all the cases. Figure 16 shows the density gradient tip shock ramp surface
contour with cowl bending, bleed and cowl bending with (b) oil flow
bleed at sustainable back pressure ratio. The internal oblique
shock reflections till the normal shock appears to be similar Figure 17 Schlieren and oil flow for bent cowl with throttle (TH
to free exit flow results. The additional separation shock = 1.14)

Volume 91, May 2010 33


10 1
Bleed
Cowl bending
Cowl bending with bleed
8 0.8
Bleed
Cowl bending
Cowl bending with bleed
6 0.6
P/Pi

y/he
4 0.4

2 0.2

0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
x/L P0e/P0i
Figure 18 Pressure distribution on the ramp with pressurised
exit Figure 20 Computed total pressure distribution at the exit with
pressurised exit

sideplate having less transparency. The surface flow pattern


obtained using oil flow technique for a typical throttled between back pressure and throttle setting at the exit as
condition (TH = 1.14) presented in Figure 17(b) also shows reported8.
the presence of a normal shock on the ramp surface followed The computed total pressure distribution at the exit of intake
by the presence of a separated flow. at corresponding sustainable back pressure (PBS) is
Computed pressure distribution on the ramp surface presented in Figure 20. The location of maximum total
presented in Figure 18 shows the gradual rise in pressure pressure is towards the cowl surface which is expected due
beyond x/L=0.3, depicting the presence of normal shock. to the geometry of the diffuser. Total pressure distribution
The smooth rise in pressure also suggests the existence of obtained for bleed and bent cowl shows similar behaviour,
steady state normal shock near the intake throat. The whereas, for the combined case, an increase in the maximum
location of normal shock for the case of combined bleed pressure is observed, which corroborates the corresponding
and cowl bending moves upstream due to a higher density gradient contour [(Figure 16(c)]. The performance of
sustainable back pressure ratio. Measured pressure intake is generally assessed using a curve relating pressure
distribution on the ramp surface (Figure 19) for intake with recovery (PR) and mass flow ratio (ratio of mass flow at exit
bent cowl and with a throttled exit of Ae/At = 1.14 also shows me to capture mass flow mi). Computations have been made
the onset of pressure rise at around x/L = 0.35. As such, it at various back pressures for bent cowl and the combined
is difficult to make direct comparison of the experiments case of bleed with bent cowl. Figure 21 shows the
with computed results as there does not exist any correlation performance curve, which indicates a definite gain in
performance due to bleeding with cowl bending. For the case
of only bent cowl, the maximum pressure recovery is 84.6%,
8

Ae/At = 1.14 90

6 85
Pressure recovery, %

80
P/Pi

4
75

θ5 = 2°, bleed = 18%,


70
2 cowl bending with bleed
θ5 = 2°, bleed = 0%, cowl
65
bending
0 60
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0.7 0.75 0.8 0.85 0.9 0.95 1
x/L Mass flow ratio, me/mi
Figure 19 Pressure distribution on the ramp with throttled
exit Figure 21 Performance curve for intake

34 IE(I) Journal–AS
whereas, adoption of bleed with cowl bending, pressure 6. Yu Daren, J Chang, W Bao and Z Xie. ‘Optimal Classifications of
recovery increases to 87.46% indicating improvement. Hypersonic Inlet Start/Unstart’. Journal of Propulsion and Power,
vol 23, no 2, 2007, p 310.
CONCLUSION 7. C D Hermann and W W Koschel. ‘Experimental Investigation of the
Internal Compression of a Hypersonic Intake’. AIAA Paper, AIAA-2002-
Numerical simulations and experiments have been made to 4130, 2002.
capture the flow field and obtain the performance of a mixed
compression supersonic air-intake. Bending of cowl or 8. B U Reinartz, C D Herrmann, J Ballmann and W W Koschel.
‘Aerodynamic Performance Analysis of a Hypersonic Inlet Isolator using
implementation of bleed was found to be necessary for the Computation and Experiment’. Journal of Propulsion and Power, vol 19,
start of intake. With adoption of cowl bending and bleed, no 5, 2003, p 868.
augmentations in intake performance is observed for free
flow as well as pressurised exit. The experiments were 9. M Mizukami and J D Saunders. ‘Parametrics on 2D Navier-Stokes
Analysis of a Mach 2.68 Rectangular Bifurcated Mixed Compression
carried out for the case of bent cowl adopting Schlieren and Inlet’. AIAA Paper, AIAA 95-2755, 1995.
oil flow visualisations and static and total pressure
measurements. Two-dimensional computations were made 10. P Vivek and S Mittal. ‘Buzz Instability in a Mixed-Compression Air
using k-ω turbulence model available with Fluent. Intake’. Technical Notes, Journal of Propulsion and Power, vol 25,
no 3, May-June 2009, p 819.
Computational results with bleed indicated good agreement
with available experimental results. The comparison of 11. J J Gawienowski. ‘The Effect of Boundary-Layer Removal through
present experiments and computed results for bent cowl Throat Slots on the Internal Performance of a Side Inlet at Mach Numbers
show good agreement in overall flow features inside the duct of 2.0 and 2.3’. NASA Technical Memorandum, NASA TM-X-502.
and as well pressure distribution on the ramp surface. 12. J Syberg and J L Konesek. ‘Bleed System Design Technology for
However, the total pressure at exit did not show a good Supersonic Inlets’. Journal of Aircraft, vol 10, no 7, July 1973, p 407.
comparison. Details of flow field with back pressure have
13. S Pandian, J Jose, M M Patil and P Srinivasa. ‘Hypersonic Air-Intake
also been studied. Combining of bleed with cowl bending Performance Improvement through Different Bleed Systems’. ISABE-
leads to better flow characteristics near intake throat which 2001-1039, 2001.
shows an enhanced performance compared to either bleeding
air or bending the cowl alone. The results suggest that 14. A Hamed, S Shih and J J Yeuan. ‘Investigation of Shock/Turbulent
Boundary-Layer Bleed Interactions’. Journal of Propulsion and Power,
adoption of cowl bending and bleed could be utilised to vol 10, no 1, January-February 1994, p 16.
alleviate starting problems of intake and also to improve the
performance characteristics of mixed compression air-intake. 15. H D Kim, W R Hingst and D O Davis. ‘Experimental Investigation of
Crossing Shock Wave-turbulent Boundary Layer-bleed Interaction’. AIAA
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Paper, AIAA-97-0608, 1997.

16. H Babinsky. ‘Understanding Micro-Ramp Control of Supersonic


The authors are thankful to Dr V Sharma, Department of
Shock Wave Boundary Layer Interactions’. USAF Technical Report,
Production Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, AFRL-SR-AR-TR-08-0074, January 2008.
for fabrication of models using EDM wire cut machine.
17. B J Tillotson, E Loth, J C Dutton, J Mace and B Haeffele. ‘Experimental
REFERENCES Study of a Mach 3 Bump-Compression Flowfield’. Journal of Propulsion
and Power, vol 25, no 3, May-June 2009, p 545.
1. M C Neale and P S Lamb. ‘Tests with a Variable Ramp Intake having
Combined External/Internal Compression, and a Design Mach Number 18. S D Kim. ‘Aerodynamic Design of a Supersonic Inlet with a Parametric
of 2.2’. Aeronautical Research Council, CP, vol 805, 1962. Bump’. Journal of Aircraft, vol 46, no 1, January-February 2009, p 198.

2. S Kubota, K Tani and G Masuya. ‘Aerodynamic Performances of a 19. S Das and J K Prasad. ‘Effect of Cowl Deflection Angle in a
Combined Cycle Inlet’. Journal of Propulsion and Power, vol 22, no 4, Supersonic Air-Intake’. Defence Science Journal, vol 59, no 2, March
2006, p 900. 2009, p 99.

3. D M VanWie, F T Kwok and R F Walsh. ‘Starting Characteristics of 20. S Das and J K Prasad. ‘Flow Field Investigation of a Rectangular
Supersonic Inlets’. AIAA Paper-96-2914, 1996. Supersonic Air-Intake with Cowl Bending’. Journal of Aerospace
Sciences and Technologies, vol 61, no 2, May 2009, p 312.
4. S A Fisher, M C Neale and A J Brooks. ‘On the Sub-critical Stability of
Variable Ramp Intakes at Mach Numbers Around 2’. National Gas Turbine 21. T Coratekin, J VanKeuk and J Ballmann. ‘Preliminary Investigations
Establishment Report, ARC-RM-3711, February 1970. in 2D and 3D Ramjet Inlet Design’. AIAA Paper, AIAA-99-2667, 1999.

5. S Trapier, P Duveau and S Deck. ‘Experimental Study of Supersonic 22. A Kantrowitz and C duP Donaldson. ‘Preliminary Investigation of
Inlet Buzz’. AIAA Journal, vol 44, no 10, 2006, p 2354. Supersonic Diffusers’. NACA ARC-L5D20, L-713, May 1945.

Volume 91, May 2010 35

You might also like