Numerical Simulation of a Y-Shaped Diverterless Supersonic Inlet

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3-D) numerical simulations of a Y-shaped body-integrated diverterless supersonic inlet (DSI) have been investigated. A diverterless supersonic inlet is an external supersonic flow compression that uses a 3-D geometry of a bump for both supersonic flow compression and boundary-layer diversion. The simulations are performed in the presence of a typical body comprising an elliptical nose in order to model a more realistic approaching flow to the inlet entrance. All simulations were performed at a freestream Mach number of [Formula: see text], the design Mach number, and at a 0 deg angle of attack (AOA) and 0 deg angle of sideslip (AOS). The Navier–Stokes relations along with [Formula: see text] shear stress transport equations are used to simulate turbulent flow on a multiblock structural grid. The present numerical simulation results show a good agreement with the wind-tunnel test data for the same DSI model. Moreover, the results show that the present numerical method has an acceptable accuracy in modeling a fully 3-D flow over the nose, along the supersonic compression region, and inside the inlet diffusers. The streamlines passed over the DSI supersonic compression clearly showed that the bump was successfully efficient in diverting the approaching boundary layer.