FULL NAVIER-STOKES ANALYSIS OF A 3-DIMENSIONAL SCRAMJET INLET

Three-dimensional full Navier-Stokes (FNS) computations have been made on a sidewall-compression scramjet inlet at a nominal Mach number of 5. A computer code named USA, which solves the FNS equations based on a finite volume approach and a high-accuracy total variation diminishing (TVD) scheme, was used. The objectives were to establish three-dimensional scramjet inlet computational fluid dynamics (CFD) capability, to study the flow structure, and to evaluate the applicability of FNS solutions for inlet performance calculations. Two solutions, one laminar and the other turbulent, were obtained. Inlet performance parameters in terms or air capture ratio, total pressure recovery, and kinetic energy efficiency, were calculated using three different averaging methods. Results are compared with the test data reported in 1966. The turbulent solution agrees well with the test data.