Improved Design Method for Hypersonic Intakes Using Pressure-Corrected Osculating Axisymmetric Flows Method

Abstract

The efficient design of air intake is crucial for high-speed airbreathing propulsion systems. This paper presents a novel design method that integrates the recently introduced internal conical flow M (ICFM) basic flowfield (Musa et al., “New Parent Flowfield for Streamline-Traced Intakes,” AIAA Journal, Vol. 61, No. 7, 2023, pp. 2906–2921) with the pressure-corrected osculating axisymmetric flows and streamline tracing techniques. The new design method takes into account the effects of lateral pressure gradients by incorporating pressure corrections into the original design method using crossflow velocity information from the ICFM flowfield. Additionally, new entrance and throat profiles are introduced for designing two hypersonic internal waverider intakes with shape transition. One intake is designed using the new method, and the other using the original method. Viscous simulations have been performed at design (i.e., Mach 6.0) and off-design (i.e., Mach 4.0 and 3.5) conditions. The results indicate that the pressure-corrected intake exhibits superior performance in terms of total pressure recovery and reduced flow distortion. This reveals that the new design method can achieve a smooth shape and efficient aerodynamic transitions between the intake entrance and throat. The new entrance and throat profiles realized better performance than the typical ones. The startability analysis reveals that the Van Wie curve controls the considered intakes. Thus, combining the pressure-corrected osculating axisymmetric flows with the ICFM flowfield enhances the performance of hypersonic intakes, making this approach a promising avenue for future hypersonic vehicles.