Enlarged Self-Starting Operational Envelope for Hypersonic Inlets Using a Splitter

Abstract

Self-starting ability defines the operational envelope of a hypersonic inlet. To demonstrate the feasibility of enlarging the self-starting operational envelope using a splitter, numerical analyses were conducted on the self-starting process of a generic two-dimensional hypersonic inlet with and without a splitter. The studied generic two-dimensional hypersonic inlet has a large internal contraction ratio and a strong cowl-surface compression intensity. The results show that the baseline inlet does not start until M0=6.843, whereas the inlet implemented with a splitter successfully starts at M0=4.227. The underlying mechanisms for the improved self-starting owing to the introduction of a splitter are discussed.