Performance Investigation of A Supersonic Air Intake in The Presence of The Boundary Layer Suction

XML Template (2014) [17.10.
2014–8:18am] [1–15]
//blrnas3.glyph.com/cenpro/ApplicationFiles/Journals/SAGE/3B2/PIGJ/Vol00000/140132/APPFile/SG-PIGJ140132.3d (PIG) [PREPRINTER stage]
Original Article
Proc IMechE Part G:

J Aerospace Engineering
Performance investigation of a supersonic 0(0) 1–15
! IMechE 2014
air intake in the presence of the boundary Reprints and permissions:
sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
layer suction DOI: 10.1177/0954410014554815

uk.sagepub.com/jaero
MR Soltani1, J Sepahi Younsi2 and A Daliri1
Abstract
The performance of a supersonic mixed compression air intake has been investigated experimentally. The intake is of
axisymmetric one and has been designed for a free stream Mach number of 2.0. The present work has two main goals,
first to investigate the performance of the intake without boundary layer bleed at design and at off-design conditions and
second to study the effects of a bleed slot on the intake performance. The intake has been tested at free stream Mach
numbers of 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 and at zero degrees angle of attack. Total pressure recovery, mass flow ratio, and flow
distortion have been selected to assess the intake performance. The bleed slot is located upstream of the intake throat
perpendicular to the compression ramp surface. The suction is applied by the natural pressure difference between the
entrance and the exit faces of the bleed duct. Results show that applying the boundary layer suction upstream of the
intake throat can considerably improve the intake performance at its design and off-design conditions while it does not
affect the intake mass flow rate.
Keywords
Supersonic intake, boundary layer suction, intake performance, total pressure recovery, mass flow ratio, flow distortion
Date received: 15 September 2014; accepted: 16 March 2014
not restricted to reduction of the total pressure recov-

Introduction
ery; it also causes flow distortion and instability.
Supersonic air intakes play an important role in the Boundary layer removal, prior to the region of inter-
engine performance and, consequently, in the vehicle action by means of bleeds or diverters, is one solution
maneuverability and on the overall efficiency. For all to dismiss these problems.1
flight conditions, the intake must supply the required Numerous studies have been carried out on the
amount of air flow with high-pressure recovery and supersonic intake performance and boundary layer
uniformity. These cases are related to the intake per- control devices, especially bleed. In early 1950s,
formance. Moreover, the intake must be compatible experimental investigations were performed on the
with the engine for smooth and effective operation. It effect of boundary layer bleed on the subcritical per-
further should have acceptable performance and sta- formance of axisymmetric supersonic air intakes and
bility at different flight regimes and angles of attack. it was found that either ram or flush bleeds increase
One of the most important aspects of the compatibil- the stability domain and the total pressure recovery of
ity is the intake stability that is associated with the the intakes at different angles of attack.2,3 Various
buzz phenomenon. When the buzz occurs, the intake
shocks and consequently both the intake pressure and
mass flow rate fluctuate. This fluctuation may cause 1
Department of Aerospace Engineering, Sharif University of
serious problems for the engine operation. Technology, Tehran, Iran
2
In addition to many other parameters, the per- Department of Aerospace Engineering, Sharif University of Technology
formance of a supersonic intake depends highly on and Mesbah Research Institute, Tehran, Iran
the boundary layer flow. Interaction of the intake
Corresponding author:
shock waves and the boundary layer may lead to MR Soltani, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Sharif University of
the flow separation and consequently total pressure Technology, Azadai St., Tehran, Iran.
loss. The consequences of the flow separation are Email: msoltani@sharif.edu
Downloaded from pig.sagepub.com at UNIV CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA on December 13, 2014
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
2 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)
types of bleeds with controlled plenum pressure were bleed upstream of the throat on the intake perform-
studied several years later.4 ance have not been studied. To fill this gap, in the
Effects of both exit area and location of the porous current study the bleed duct entrance has been located
bleed on the intake performance and stability were upstream of the intake throat (on the tip cone surface)
examined experimentally.5,6 Both cowl and center- and the intake performance for this situation is experi-
body porous bleed for an axisymmetric mixed-com- mentally studied. In addition, in most studies the
pression intake was also implemented and its effect on intake pressure recovery variation has been examined
the minimum stable pressure recovery of the intake for the performance evaluation, but in the present
was investigated.7 work the intake performance has been appraised by
Recently, a model has been fabricated to simulate both the pressure recovery and by the intake mass
porous bleed systems.8 Effects of the slot bleed geom- flow rate as well as flow distortion. The bleed was
etry on an axisymmetric supersonic air intake have located on the compression surface upstream of the
been also explored.9 Interconnected throat suction throat section since the stability issues of the intake
and pre-entry injection slots were used and it was has been the main goal for using the boundary layer
shown that higher pressure recoveries and stable sub- suction in this project.
critical shock position could be achieved.10 In addition, it is important to notice that every
In addition, several numerical and experimental supersonic intake has its own characteristics and
investigations have been performed on the supersonic cannot be completely predicted only by the theoretical
intake performance with and without the bleed. and numerical approaches because of the flow com-
Experiments were carried out on the axisymmetric plexities such as different types of the shock waves,
and chine intakes for a wide range of angles of shock wave-boundary layer interaction, adverse pres-
attack to study the intake behavior during an exten- sure gradient, and flow separation. The experimental
sive maneuvering range.11,12 Three-dimensional evaluation is still needed to complete our knowledge
numerical simulations were performed on a bump about each intake and to use its data for validation of
type supersonic intake and the results were compared the numerical codes.
with the ramp-type intakes.13 It was concluded that The intake used in this study is a mixed compres-
the bump-type intake can provide higher total pression one that has been designed for M1 ¼ 2.0. It has
sure recovery than the ramp-type one. been tested at M1 ¼ 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 and at zero
Further, several experiments were performed on degrees angle of attack. Tests were performed for
various rectangular shaped intakes to investigate two cases; without bleed (base intake) and with sta-
their performance and stability criterion.14,15 bility bleed (bleed designed for stability purpose). The
Recently, impact of the entrance and exit area of the main objectives of this work are twofold; a) experi-
boundary layer bleed duct on the intake performance mental investigation of the design and off-design per-
was experimentally investigated for a rectangular formance of the intake, and b) to examine effects of
mixed compression intake. It was found that in the the stability bleed on the intake performance.
best configuration, the pressure recovery and stable
range of the intake increases up to 12.6% and
Experimental setup
15.9%, respectively.16 In addition, computational
fluid dynamics based optimizations using the genetic In this section, a few of the experimental equipment
algorithm for the design of the bleed system were are briefly explained. However, detailed descriptions
developed to improve the intake performance.17,18 of the experimental setup can be found in Soltani and
The performance of an external compression Farahani.22
intake was investigated experimentally and numeric-
ally.19,20 The intake was of external compression type,
Wind tunnel
however, the intake in the current study is mixed com-
pression one. In addition, in this study effect of the All tests were conducted in a continuous suction type
boundary layer suction on the intake performance is wind tunnel with a rectangular test section of 60 60
investigated. cm2. The tunnel is equipped with a flexible nozzle that
New methods of improving the supersonic intake can be adjusted during the tests. The turbulence inten-
performance such as addition of an imaginary heat sity of the flow in the test section ranges from 0.4% to
source ahead of the intake have been further investi- 1.4%, depending on the free stream Mach number.22
gated to be replaced with the bleed mechanism.21 There exist porous bleed holes on the upper and lower
Presence of the heat source can decrease the intake walls of the test section that can stabilize and control
drag coefficient considerably and increase its mass wind tunnel shock and other reflected waves. Side wall
flow rate whiles it partially reduces the pressure windows of the test section have been made from
recovery. accurately manufactured optical glasses which allow
As seen from the above literature review, in all the flow and shock pattern observation by means of
studies the bleed duct entrance has been located in schlieren and shadowgraph flow visualization sys-
the throat section of the intake. The effects of the tems. The tunnel is of indraft one, therefore, total
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
Soltani et al. 3
pressure and total temperature in the test section are this study and are shown in Figure 1(b). The bleed slot
constant, atmospheric. All tests were conducted at is located at x/d of 0.4 and is perpendicular to the
three free stream Mach numbers of 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 compression ramp surface (Figure 1(c)). Its entrance
and at zero degrees angle of attack. area is 10.5% of the intake captured area. Boundary
layer suction is carried out by the natural pressure
difference between the entrance and the exit sections
Model
of the bleed duct.
A photo of the intake model used in this experiment is A conical plug is located at the end of the model to
shown in Figure 1(a). It is an axisymmetric mixed- vary the exit area of the intake during the tests. The
compression intake with a design Mach number of plug is moved along the intake centerbody using a
2.0 and with an l/d of 3.4 where d is the maximum small DC motor and a ball screw (Figure 2(a)). The
model diameter. The intake contraction ratio when intake mass flow rate and back pressure are controlled
defined as the ratio of the initial cross-sectional area through changing the intake exit area. Note that the
of the captured stream tube to the throat area, CR, is back pressure determines the normal shock position
1.4 and the first starting Mach number of the intake is and, consequently, design and off-design conditions of
about 2.0. High contraction ratio that results in a the intake can be realized.
small throat area and causes formation of a relatively
weak normal shock inside the intake and conse-
quently total pressure loss reduces.
Pressure measurements and test procedure
The spike tip cone can be replaced in order to add Sixty two sensitive pressure transducers have been
or remove the bleed slot. Two tip cones are used in used during each test to measure static and total
Figure 1. (a) intake model in the wind tunnel; (b) two tip cones; (c) pressure taps and bleed slot.
Figure 2. Schematic of the intake model and its instruments.
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
pressures on the model and on the wind tunnel walls.

Several pressure taps have been located at different
Performance parameters
positions of the spike surface to measure the static The performance parameters that are assessed experi-
pressure distribution. Two multi-probe rakes, TR mentally in this study are total pressure recovery
(throat rake) and MR (main rake) as shown schemat- (TPR), mass flow ratio (MFR), and flow distortion
ically in Figure 2(b), are located at the throat (FD). TPR is defined as the ratio of the total pressure
(x/d ¼ 0.8 and ¼ 270 ) and at the exit (x/d ¼ 2.4 at the intake exit face to the free stream total pressure.
and ¼ 90 ) sections of the intake. Rake TR has 12 The intake exit total pressure is calculated by the area
probes and is used to measure the boundary-layer weighted averaging of the main rake data.
profile at the throat section. Rake MR has 17 MFR is defined as the ratio of the actual intake
probes and is used to measure the boundary-layer mass flow rate to the maximum mass flow rate
profile, intake total pressure recovery, mass flow that the intake can capture.20 Using the notation of
rate and flow distortion at the exit face of the model. Figure 3
Two other single-probe rakes (PR1 and PR2) are
located at x/d ¼ 1.4 ¼ 0 and at x/d ¼ m_ i Ai
MFR ¼ ¼ ð1Þ
1.8 ¼ 180 , respectively for total pressure losses m_ 1 A1
measurement (Figure 2(b)). Furthermore, static and
total pressures of the bleed duct are measured at the
duct exit to compute the bleed mass flow rate and The flow at the end of the intake over the plug is
Mach number. chocked and the intake mass flow rate is calculated at
Tests were conducted for free stream Mach num- this location using the main rake data. The detailed
bers of 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 for the intake with and with- description of the MFR calculation method via the
out the bleed mechanisms. All tests have been carried total pressure data of the main rake can be found in
out at zero degrees angle of attack. At the beginning Seddon and Goldsmith1 and Herrmann et al.15 Note
of each test, the plug was in the position of maximum that it is desired for an intake to have maximum pos-
exit area. The plug was then moved forward and the sible value of TPR and MFR.
exit area was reduced. For every free stream Mach The intake FD represents the flow uniformity at
number 8 different exit areas were adjusted and the the intake exit face and must be as low as possible
data for all 62 pressure ports were collected. All data for a complete combustion process.20 This parameter
were acquired at a frequency of 2.8 kHz for 2 s. Signal is defined as
processing of the steady-state cases showed that the
data acquisition time, two seconds, was sufficient for ðPt Þmax ðPt Þmin
FD ¼ ð2Þ
obtaining the steady-state condition for all cases. ðPt Þavg
A shadowgraph flow visualization system was also
used for all test cases at the same time. The camera Another ratio, exit blockage ratio (EBR), is defined
used in this investigation has a maximum speed of to include effects of the plug movement (exit area vari-
1000 frames/s. The dominant frequency range for ation). This parameter is defined as the ratio of the
the buzz oscillations is 50–200 Hz in this study and exit duct height blocked by the plug to the total height
as a result the camera speed is sufficient to capture of the exit duct. The inaccuracy of the performance
the buzz fluctuations. parameters and some important measured values is
Figure 3. The flow areas used in the MFR definition.20
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
Soltani et al. 5
given in Table 1.23 Two values have been reported for Figure 5 also shows the predicted performance for
static pressure since two different types of pressure every operating condition. When the exit back pres-
transducers have been used in this work. sure is low, a relatively strong normal shock wave is
The intake flow field at its design condition is shown placed downstream of the throat (supercritical condi-
in Figure 4. For this case the intake is operating in its tion) that results in a low TPR. In this condition, the
critical stage. At this condition the normal shock is intake MFR is approximately constant. When the
placed at the intake throat or close to it. The intake back pressure is increased, the normal shock weakens
operation condition may also be subcritical or super- and moves upstream and stands near the throat (crit-
critical. The normal shock is placed upstream of the ical condition). This intake is designed for the critical
throat in the subcritical condition and when it is located condition where it is supposed to have the best per-
downstream of the throat, the operating condition formance. With further increase of the back pressure,
called supercritical operating condition (Figure 5). the normal shock moves outside the intake
Table 1. Measurement inaccuracies (%).
M1/ M1 Re/Re MFR/MFR
Ps/Ps M1 ¼ 1.8 M1 ¼ 2.0 M1 ¼ 2.2 M1 ¼ 1.8 M1 ¼ 2.0 M1 ¼ 2.2 TPR/TPR FD/FD M1 ¼ 1.8 M1 ¼ 2.0 M1 ¼ 2.2
0.929,1.421 1.458 1.162 0.918 1.982 1.936 1.791 1.421 2.461 2.455 2.418 2.304
Figure 4. Intake shock pattern at the design condition.
Figure 5. Supersonic intake performance curve and its operating conditions.
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
Figure 6. Base intake TPR variations versus EBR.

TPR: total pressure recovery; EBR: exit blockage ratio.
Figure 7. Spike pressure distribution of the base intake at M1 ¼ 1.8.

EBR: exit blockage ratio.
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
Soltani et al. 7
(subcritical condition) and the intake MFR decreases shocks fluctuate with certain amplitudes and frequen-
(Figure 5). At the subcritical condition, when the cies. For cases with the buzz fluctuations, the time-
MFR is decreased below a certain value, the buzz or averaged values of the measured pressures are used to
unstart phenomenon is occurred where all intake calculate the intake performance. Further, it should


XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
be mentioned that the normal shock strength is mea- of 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2. As seen from this figure, closing
sured relative to its strength in other situations and the exit area of the intake (increasing the intake EBR
this is a comparative issue. and consequently back pressure) leads to an increase
in the pressure recovery of the intake until a max-
imum value is achieved. By further reducing the exit
Results and discussion
area, increasing the EBR, TPR decreases.
In this section, the performance of the intake without To recognize the reason for the aforementioned
boundary layer bleed, base intake, is investigated fol- behavior of the TPR, the spike pressure distribution
lowed by the effects of the boundary layer bleed on is studied at all free stream Mach numbers tested. In
the TPR, MFR, and FD. Finally, the performance this study, as seen from Figures 7 to 9 for low values
curve of the base intake is evaluated. of EBR, there exists a relatively strong normal shock
wave inside the intake downstream of the throat sec-
tion. This shock and its interaction with the boundary
Base intake performance
layer cause a considerable reduction in the total pres-
Figure 6 shows variations of the base intake TPR with sure. As the EBR is increased, the normal shock
the changes in the EBR at free stream Mach numbers moves toward the throat while its strength decreases
Figure 10. Base intake MFR variations versus EBR.

MFR: mass flow ratio; EBR: exit blockage ratio.
Figure 11. Shadowgraph pictures of the base intake for EBR ¼ 55%.
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
Soltani et al. 9
which is caused by the smaller area near the throat, strength that causes considerable reduction in the
however, TPR increases. The maximum value of the total pressure.
TPR occurs when the normal shock reaches near the As mentioned before, when the normal shock is in
throat. With further increase of EBR, the normal the throat section the intake is operating in its critical
shock is expelled out of the intake and gains its regime. According to Figures 7 to 9, the critical
Figure 12. Base intake FD variations versus EBR.

FD: flow distortion; EBR: exit blockage ratio.
Figure 13. Performance curve of the base intake at three free stream Mach numbers.
TPR: total pressure recovery; MFR: mass flow ratio.
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
condition for this intake is obtained at EBR60– too. This increment is due to the shock-on-lip
65%. Figure 6 shows that for this value of the EBR, approach condition as the free stream Mach number
the intake has its maximum TPR for all free stream is increased. Figure 11 shows a shadowgraph picture
Mach numbers tested in this investigation. of the shock that clearly shows the aforementioned
Figure 6 further shows that as the free stream phenomenon; i.e. the shock wave impinges on the
Mach number is increased, TPR reduces considerably. cowl lip as the free stream Mach number is increased
For example; at EBR ¼ 65%, TPR is reduced by from M1 ¼ 1.8 to M1 ¼ 2.2. At the shock-on-lip con-
about 12.3% when the free stream Mach number is dition, the flow spillage has a minimum value and
increased from 1.8 to 2.2. This reduction is primarily consequently the intake has its maximum MFR.
due to the increase in the strength of the conical and Figure 12 shows variations of the intake FD cor-
normal shocks of the intake as well as the strong inter- responding to the EBR changes. As seen from this
action between the boundary layer and shocks. figure, the intake has a small FD in its subcritical
Figure 10 shows changes in the intake MFR as conditions (EBR>60–65%), but FD increases rapidly
EBR is varied. According to this figure increasing when the intake flow becomes supercritical. In add-
the EBR leads to a decrease in the MFR. This reduc- ition, the intake FD has small variations when EBR
tion is severe in the subcritical conditions (EBR>60– changes in the subcritical conditions as compared
65%) as compared with the supercritical one. In fact with the supercritical conditions.
when EBR increases the intake shocks move upstream As mentioned before when operating in supercrit-
and increases the mass flow spillage that will reduce ical conditions, there is a relatively strong normal
the intake mass flow rate. shock inside the intake and its interaction with the
Figure 10 further shows that when the free stream intake boundary layer causes serious flow separation
Mach number increases the intake MFR increases there and increases the intake FD. Decreasing the
Figure 14. Effects of boundary layer bleed on the intake TPR.

TPR: total pressure recovery; EBR: exit blockage ratio.
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
Soltani et al. 11
EBR, leads to the formation of a stronger normal of attack and for free stream Mach numbers of 1.8,
shock inside the intake that will increase the flow 2.0, and 2.2 are studied.
separation. Figure 14 shows the intake TPR in the presence of
According to Figure 12 when the free stream Mach the boundary layer bleed. According to this figure,
number is increased, the intake FD increases too. This applying the boundary layer suction has effectively
is caused by the formation of stronger shock waves increased the intake TPR for all the cases examined
and has strong interactions with the boundary layer here. For example, at M1 ¼ 2.0, the design Mach
that will cause serious flow separation inside the number for this intake, the boundary layer bleed has
intake. increased the intake TPR up to about 10% for
Finally in this section, the base intake performance EBR ¼ 75%.
curve is shown in Figure 13 for all free stream Mach Figure 14 also shows that in the subcritical condi-
numbers. According to this figure when the free tions (EBR>60–65%), boundary layer suction has
stream Mach number increases the intake TPR more improvement as compared with supercritical
decreases but MFR increases and reaches about 1.0 condition. In fact in the subcritical conditions,
for EBR ¼ 55% at M1 ¼ 2.2. The buzz phenomenon the boundary layer suction is performed near the
was detected in our tests using the unsteady pressure normal shock. Boundary layer removal near the
signals and shadowgraph pictures. normal shock prevents flow separation.
Furthermore, Figure 14 shows that when the bound-
ary layer bleed is applied at M1 ¼ 1.8 and 2.0, max-
Performance of the base intake with bleed imum TPR occurs at a higher value of EBR. While for
In this section, the effects of the boundary layer bleed M1 ¼ 2.2, it happens at the supercritical condition,
on the base intake performance at zero degrees angle EBR ¼ 65% and for higher EBR, TPR decreases.
Figure 15. Effects of the boundary layer bleed on the intake MFR at each free stream Mach number.
MFR: mass flow ratio; EBR: exit blockage ratio.
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
The rate of decrease of TPR for M1 ¼ 2.2 and for the magnitude of the distortion may increase or
bleed-on case is less than that for base intake. decrease. In the present tests, this magnitude has
In Figure 15, effects of the boundary layer bleed on been decreased for most cases. This reduction is due
the intake MFR for various free stream Mach num- to the diminishing of flow separation in the presence
bers are shown. Though it seems that the use of the of the boundary layer bleed. In addition, the FD that
boundary layer removal decreases mass flow rate of is reported in this study is the steady-state radial dis-
the intake, this figure shows that the overall intake tortion, not for the dynamic distortion. Thus, for
mass flow rate has been increased. The increment is, cases with buzz fluctuations the averaged values of
however, greater in the subcritical conditions. the main rake total pressures have been used for cal-
Investigation of the shadowgraph pictures shows culating the distortion.
that when the bleed is applied, it reduces the fre- Figure 17 shows total pressure ratio at M1 ¼ 2.0
quency and amplitude of the intake buzz oscillations and at EBR ¼ 70% in the MR position. According to
significantly. Therefore; the mean mass flow rate that this figure, applying the suction has been resulted in a
passes through the intake increases since the flow higher total pressure and has unified the flow signifi-
spillage and the flow separation downstream of the cantly. Consequently, intake TPR has been increased
normal shock (in the subcritical condition) decrease and FD has been decreased using the stability bleed in
as the buzz amplitude is reduced. It must be men- this case.
tioned that in all tests the bleed mass flow rate is Finally as seen from Figure 18, the boundary layer
not more than 2.5% of the intake mass flow rate. suction has improved the intake performance signifi-
Investigation of the boundary layer suction effects cantly because it increases the TPR effectively and
on the intake FD (Figure 16) shows that with bleed also increases the intake MFR, both of them are
Figure 16. Effects of the boundary layer bleed on the intake FD at each free stream Mach number.
FD: flow distortion; EBR: exit blockage ratio.
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
Soltani et al. 13
Figure 17. Total pressure ratio at MR at M1 ¼ 2.0 and EBR ¼ 70%.
Figure 18. Performance curve of the base intake and intake with bleed at each free stream Mach number.
TPR: total pressure recovery; MFR: mass flow ratio.
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
favorable for the performance of the flying vehicle. 2. Obery LJ and Cubbison RW. Effectiveness of bound-
Also, as seen from Figure 18 the bleed has increased ary-layer removal near throat of ramp-type side inlet at
the stable range of the intake (delays the buzz onset) free-stream Mach number of 2.0. NACA RM E54I14,
especially at M1 ¼ 1.8. This increases the reliability 1954.
3. Trimpi RL and Cohen NB. Effect of several modifica-
for the intake operation and extends the flight enve-
tions to center body and cowling on subcritical perfor-
lope of the vehicle.
mance of a supersonic inlet at Mach number of 2.02.
NACA RM L55C16, 1955.
Conclusions 4. Sanders BW and Mitchell GA. Increasing the stable
operation range of a Mach 2.5 inlet. NASA TM X-
The performance of an axisymmetric mixed compres- 52799, 1970.
sion air intake has been studied experimentally. The 5. Cubbison RW, Meleason ET and Johnson DF. Effect
intake has been tested at three different free stream of porous bleed in a high-performance axisymmetric,
Mach numbers and at zero degrees angle of attack. mixed-compression inlet at Mach 2.50. NASA TM X-
The intake performance has been assessed by TPR, 1692, 1968.
MFR, and FD parameters in two cases; base intake 6. Sanders BW and Cubbison RW. Effect of bleed-system
back pressure and porous area on the performance of
with and without the boundary layer bleed. The bleed
an axisymmetric mixed-compression inlet at Mach 2.50.
slot, stability bleed, is located upstream of the intake
NASA TM X-1710, 1968.
throat. 7. Shaw RJ, Wasserbauer JF and Neumann HE.
Results show that increasing the intake EBR and Boundary-layer bleed system study for a full-scale,
consequently back pressure, leads to the movement of mixed-compression inlet with 45 percent internal con-
the normal shock inside the intake toward the intake traction. NACA TM X-3358, 1976.
cone tip. As a result, TPR increases to its maximum 8. Slater JW and Saunders JD. Modeling of fixed-exit
value near the critical condition and then it decreases porous bleed systems for supersonic inlets. J Propul
in the subcritical condition. In addition, both intake Power 2010; 26(2): 193–202.
MFR and FD both decrease. The intake FD is very 9. Fukuda MK, Hingst WG and Reshotko E. Control of
large in the supercritical condition and it may cause shock wave-boundary layer interactions by bleed in
supersonic mixed-compression inlets. NASA CR-2595,
serious problems for the engine combustion.
1975.
Increasing the free stream Mach number decreases
10. Rolston S and Raghunathan S. Passive control of pre-
the TPR, but it leads to an increase in the MFR entry shock in supersonic intakes. In: 31st aerospace
and FD. sciences meeting & exhibit, Reno, NV, USA, AIAA
Applying the boundary layer suction increases the Paper 93-0291, January 1993.
intake TPR considerably. This increment is greater in 11. Herrmann D and Triesch K. Experimental investigation
the subcritical conditions as compared with the super- of isolated inlets for high agile missiles. Aerosp Sci
critical ones. Boundary layer removal is seen to Technol 2006; 10(8): 659–667.
increase the intake mass flow rate. Boundary layer 12. Herrmann D, Triesch K and Gulhan A. Experimental
suction also increases the stable range of the intake study of chin intakes for airbreathing missiles with high
(delays the buzz onset). agility. J Propul Power 2008; 24(2): 236–244.
13. Kim SD and Song DJ. Numerical study on perfor-
Finally, it is concluded that using the stability bleed
mance of supersonic inlets with various three-dimen-
considerably improves the intake performance and
sional bumps. J Mech Sci Technol 2008; 22(8):
stability without a need for an artificial mean such 1640–1647.
as a pump for suction. It does not lead to any reduc- 14. Hirschen C, Herrmann D and Gulhan A. Experimental
tion in the intake mass flow rate. investigations of the performance and unsteady beha-
vior of a supersonic intake. J Propul Power 2007; 23(3):
566–574.
Acknowledgment
15. Herrmann D, Siebe F and Gulhan A. Pressure
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the fluctuations (buzzing) and inlet performance of an
Mesbah Research Institute. airbreathing missile. J Propul Power 2013; 29(4):
839–848.
Conflict of interest 16. Herrmann D, Blem S and Gulhan A. Experimental
None declared. study of boundary-layer bleed impact on
ramjet inlet performance. J Propul Power 2011; 27(6):
Funding 1186–1195.
17. Liou MF and Benson TJ. Optimization of bleed for
This research received no specific grant from any funding supersonic inlet. In: 13th AIAA/ ISSMO multidisciplin-
agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. ary analysis optimization conference, Fort Worth, TX,
USA, September 2010. AIAA Paper 2010-9172.
References 18. Liou MF. A full Navier-Stokes based optimal design of
1. Seddon J and Goldsmith EL. Intake aerodynamics. 2nd bleed flow for supersonic inlets. In: 29th AIAA applied
ed. Chap. 10 and 15, AIAA Education Series. Reston, aerodynamics conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, June 2011.
VA: AIAA, 1999. AIAA Paper 2011-3003.
XML Template (2014) [17.10.2014–8:18am] [1–15]
Soltani et al. 15
19. Soltani MR and Farahani M. Performance study of an R radial coordinate

inlet in supersonic flow. Proc IMechE, Part G: J Re Reynolds number
Aerospace Engineering 2012; 227(1): 159–174. x axial coordinate
20. Soltani MR, Sepahi Younsi J and Farahani M.
Numerical simulation and parametric study of a super-
difference
sonic intake. Proc IMechE, Part G: J Aerospace
circumferential direction
Engineering 2013; 227(3): 467–479.
21. Soltani MR, Farahani M and Sepahi Younsi J.
Performance study of a supersonic inlet in the presence
of heat source. Scient Iran B 2011; 18(3): 375–382. Subscripts
22. Soltani MR and Farahani M. Effects of angle of attack
on the inlet buzz. J Propul Power 2012; 28(4): 747–757. avg average
23. Daliri A. Experimental investigation of the effect of bleed i intake
location on the performance and stability of a supersonic max maximum
air inlet. MS Thesis, Sharif University of Technology, min minimum
Iran, 2013. s static condition
t total condition
1 free stream condition
Appendix
Notation
A area
d model maximum diameter
M Mach number
m_ mass flow rate
P pressure

Performance Investigation of A Supersonic Air Intake in The Presence of The Boundary Layer Suction

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Performance Investigation of A Supersonic Air Intake in The Presence of The Boundary Layer Suction

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Performance Investigation of A Supersonic Air Intake in The Presence of The Boundary Layer Suction

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

XML Template (2014) [17.10.

Proc IMechE Part G:

layer suction DOI: 10.1177/0954410014554815

MR Soltani1, J Sepahi Younsi2 and A Daliri1

Date received: 15 September 2014; accepted: 16 March 2014

not restricted to reduction of the total pressure recov-

2 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

Figure 2. Schematic of the intake model and its instruments.

4 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

pressures on the model and on the wind tunnel walls.

Figure 3. The flow areas used in the MFR definition.20

Table 1. Measurement inaccuracies (%).

M1/ M1 Re/Re MFR/MFR

Figure 4. Intake shock pattern at the design condition.

Figure 5. Supersonic intake performance curve and its operating conditions.

6 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

Figure 6. Base intake TPR variations versus EBR.

Figure 7. Spike pressure distribution of the base intake at M1 ¼ 1.8.

Figure 8. Spike pressure distribution of the base intake at M1 ¼ 2.0.

Figure 9. Spike pressure distribution of the base intake at M1 ¼ 2.2.

8 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

Figure 10. Base intake MFR variations versus EBR.

Figure 12. Base intake FD variations versus EBR.

10 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

Figure 14. Effects of boundary layer bleed on the intake TPR.

12 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

Figure 17. Total pressure ratio at MR at M1 ¼ 2.0 and EBR ¼ 70%.

14 Proc IMechE Part G: J Aerospace Engineering 0(0)

19. Soltani MR and Farahani M. Performance study of an R radial coordinate

You might also like