Aerodynamic design and experimental modelling of an innovative supersonic three-dimensional air-intake

Aerodynamic design of an innovative supersonic three-dimensional air-intake including a starting device has been carried out. The intake concept is based on the use of an external compression ramp in the form of a caret waverider. In a design flow regime, this ramp generates a plane oblique shock wave lying on its swept leading-edges and a subsequent two-dimensional isentropic compression wave. The intake starting is provided with a device special flaps of which in the throat are opened slightly in order to enlarge it and to form here both longitudinal and cross slots for air bleed and boundary-layer diversion. The same device can also serve for regulation of intake operating regimes depending on the flight velocity. The experimental model intake with a design Mach number M-D = 2 has been developed and tested at flow Mach numbers 1.5, 1.75, and 2.0 in the T-313 supersonic wind tunnel based at ITAM. Flow patterns about the intake have been observed, and flow parameters characterising the intake performance have been measured. The experimental results obtained have confirmed the workability of the starting/regulating device; the data on the efficiency of the model intake have demonstrated its good characteristics in terms of the total pressure recovery.