Effects of design parameters on hypersonic inward turning inlet and forebody.

The hypersonic inward turning inlet has characteristics of high mass capture capability and compression capability, meanwhile it has direct influences on the design of the flight vehicle control ability and stability, therefore the design of forebody/inlet integration is of critical importance. In the paper, axi-symmetrical basic flow fields with controlled pressure distribution used for the designing of hypersonic inward turning inlet was established using the rotational method of characteristics. In combination of the streamline tracing technique, five forebodies/inward turning inlets were designed. The influences of different radial and circumferential positions on the inlet and forebody performances in longitudinal and course were studied numerically. The results show that the forebodies/inlets generate large aerodynamic forces and moments which influence both the flight vehicle control ability and stability. With the capture line being off from the center body, the performances of the flight vehicle static instability both longitudinal and lateral are improved; when the capture line changes in the circumferential direction, the degree of longitudinal static stability remains nearly unchanged; when the capture line is symmetrical about the longitudinal plane, mass flow ratio increases significantly compared to those with asymmetrical capture lines, but the penalty is the deterioration of the performance of course static stability. These conclusions presented in this paper have valuable contributions to the design of flight vehicles with high performance of handling and stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]