Shock Control Method for Hypersonic Inlets Based on Forebody Secondary Flow Recirculation

A new fluidic method to control the hypersonic inlet external shock system based on local secondary flow recirculation and the related prediction method for the profile of the restructured shock are brought forward in this Paper. A hypersonic inlet model using the new control method is designed and investigated by both experimental and numerical methods. The results show that the prediction method can yield acceptable prediction accuracy. The inlet using the new fluidic shock control method can maintain the shock-on-lip condition at both Mach 4.92 and 5.74. Compared with the existing fluidic shock control methods, the total pressure recovery of the inlet using the new fluidic shock control method is further increased by 3.46% while the mass flow rate of secondary flow used to control the ramps shock is reduced by 28.82%. Therefore, the new fluidic shock control method not only eliminates the complex coupling of the valve opening with the isolator pressure distribution, but also obtains a better inlet performance with less secondary mass flow rate.