Experimental performance evaluation of a streamline traced inlet at off-design conditions

Conference item

Scramjet engines used as part of a multi-stage space access system must operate efficiently over a wide range of conditions. This paper describes experimental testing undertaken to evaluate the masscapture performance, self-starting capability, and back-pressure limitations of a streamline-traced three-dimensional inlet. Experiments were conducted in the University of Oxford High Density Tunnel. Instrumentation included fast-response surface pressure measurements and a novel back pressure/mass capture device suitable for accurate measurement of mass flow rate in short duration testing. Tests were performed at Mach 7 between unit Reynolds numbers 4.7 × 106 /𝑚 and 17.7 × 106 /𝑚. The inlet was found to be capable of withstanding a forebody-normalized back pressure ratio 88 before unstarting, with minimal Reynolds number dependance. The started inlet captured 80% of the projected capture area, with a 6% variation across the unit Reynolds number range.

Authors: Tyler, T; Pilkington, A; Wheeler, C; Hambidge, C; Vanyai, T

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: CEAS
• Host title: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on High-Speed Vehicle Science Technology (HISST 2024)
• Publication date: 2024-06-21
• Acceptance date: 2023-11-14
• Event title: 3rd International Conference on High-Speed Vehicle Science Technology (HISST 2024)
• Event location: Busan, South Korea
• Event website: https://www.hisst2024.org/
• Event start date: 2024-04-14
• Event end date: 2024-04-19
• Language: English
• Keywords: unstart; mass flow; supersonic inlet; scramjet