Numerical study of the effects of reverse sweep on scramjet inlet performance
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Engineering topics
Publications and source records attributed to Kumar, Ajay.
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An assessment is presented for the experimental data on separated flow in shock wave turbulent boundary layer interactions at hypersonic and supersonic speeds. The data base consists mainly of two dimensional and axisymmetric interactions in compression corners or cylinder-flares, and externally generated oblique shock interactions with boundary layers over flat plates or cylindrical surfaces. The conditions leading to flow separation and the subsequent changes in the flow empirical correlations for incipient separation are reviewed. The effects of the Mach number, Reynolds number, surface cooling and the methods of detecting separation are discussed. The pertinent experimental data for the separated flow characteristics in separated turbulent boundary layer shock interaction are also presented and discussed.
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A new procedure is demonstrated for optimizing hypersonic wind-tunnel-nozzle contours. The procedure couples a CFD computer code to an optimization algorithm, and is applied to both conical and contoured hypersonic nozzles for the purpose of determining an optimal set of parameters to describe the surface geometry. A design-objective function is specified based on the deviation from the desired test-section flow-field conditions. The objective function is minimized by optimizing the parameters used to describe the nozzle contour based on the solution to a nonlinear least-squares problem. The effect of the changes in the nozzle wall parameters are evaluated by computing the nozzle flow using the parabolized Navier-Stokes equations. The advantage of the new procedure is that it directly takes into account the displacement effect of the boundary layer on the wall contour. The new procedure provides a method for optimizing hypersonic nozzles of high Mach numbers which have been designed by classical procedures, but are shown to produce poor flow quality due to the large boundary layers present in the test section. The procedure is demonstrated by finding the optimum design parameters for a Mach 10 conical nozzle and a Mach 6 and a Mach 15 contoured nozzle.
A numerical study was conducted to address the structural stability of the oblique detonation wave. An attempt was made to isolate the structural instability predicted by Buckmaster's (1990) linear stability analysis. For this study a detailed viscous flowfield with finite-rate chemistry was computed past a 20-deg wedge. The finite-rate chemistry was modeled by using a seven-species and seven-reaction model. Instability modes were isolated by analyzing the Fourier power spectrum of the H2O mass fraction at selected sample stations. No unstable temporal modes with dominant frequency were isolated. It was concluded that the instability which is predicted by the Buckmaster work was a high-frequency low-amplitude phenomenon. For engineering purposes, the oblique detonation wave is a stable phenomenon as long as sufficient levels of overdrive are present.
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A numerical study of hypersonic forebody/inlet integration problem is presented in the form of the view-graphs. The following topics are covered: physical/chemical modeling; solution procedure; flow conditions; mass flow rate at inlet face; heating and skin friction loads; 3-D forebogy/inlet integration model; and sensitivity studies.
A review is given of computations for a series of nominally 2-D laminar viscous-inviscid interactions. Comparisons were made with detailed experimental shock tunnel results. The shock wave boundary layer interactions considered were induced by a compression ramp in one case and by an externally generated incident shock in the second case. In general, good agreement was reached between the grid refined calculations and experiment for the incipient and small separation conditions. For the highly separated flow, 3-D calculations which included the finite span effects of the experiment were required in order to obtain agreement with the data.
The effect of shock impingement on the blunt leading edges of the top and sidewall compression type inlet of a scramjet engine is studied numerically. The impinging shock is caused by the vehicle forebody. The interaction of this forebody shock with the inlet leading edge shock results in a very complex flowfield containing local regions of high pressure and intense heating. This complex flowfield in calculated by solving the Navier-Stokes equations using a finite volume flux splitting technique due to van Leer. To resolve the finer details of the flow structure as well as to predict the surface heat transfer accurately, adaptive grid technique is used in the analysis. Results of the present numerical study are compared with available experimental results.
A development status evaluation is presented for CFD methods applicable to fuselage-integrated scramjet powerplant incorporating hypersonic vehicles; these methods are critically important due to the unavailability of experimental facilities for such elevated Mach number/high-enthalphy conditions. Advancements are required in algorithm robustness and speed, geometric flexibility, and the inclusion of more complete flow physics. The most serious deficiencies lie in turbulence modeling, the lack of complete transition-prediction methods, and combustion modeling.
Computations were made for those test cases of Problem 3 which were designated as laminar flows, viz., test cases 3.1, 3.2, 3.4, and 3.5. These test cases corresponded to flows over a flat plate and a compression ramp at high Mach number and at high Reynolds number. The computations over the compression ramps indicate a substantial streamwise extent of separation. Based on previous experience with separated laminar flows at high Mach numbers which indicated a substantial effect with spatial grid refinement, a series of computations with different grid sizes were performed. Also, for the flat plate, comparisons of the results for two different algorithms were made.
Design of successful airbreathing engines for operation at near-orbital speeds presents significant challenges in all the disciplines involved, including propulsion. This paper presents a discussion of the important physics of hypersonic combustion and an assessment of the state of the art of ground simulations with pulse facilities and with computational techniques. Recent examples of experimental and computational simulations are presented and discussed. The need for continued application of these tools to establish the credibility and fidelity of engineering design methods for practical hypersonic combustors is emphasized along with the critical need for improved diagnostic methods for hypervelocity reacting flows.
A comparative numerical study of performance parameters of a similar and an opposite sweep sidewall compression inlet is made. The focus of the study is the investigation of the impact of alternate backward-forward sweep on the compression sidewalls as opposed to back-ward sweep on all the sidewalls. Two equivalent scramjet inlet configurations are designed for this purpose. These inlets have the same wetted areas of compression and expansion and same height and width; but in one inlet all the compression surface are swept back (similar sweep inlet) whereas in the other inlet, alternate surfaces are swept backward and forward (opposite sweep inlet). The cowl closure in both cases begins at the start of the throat region. A three-dimensional Navier-Stokes code is used to calculate the flow through these inlets. Results of these calculations are used to compare the two designs for their performance and flow quality. Effects of boundary- layer ingestion on the performance and overall flow features are also investigated.
A comparative study was made with four different codes for solving the compressible Navier-Stokes equations using three different test problems. The first of these cases was hypersonic flow through the P8 inlet, which represents inlet configurations typical of a hypersonic airbreathing vehicle. The free-stream Mach number in this case was 7.4. This 2-D inlet was designed to provide an internal compression ratio of 8. Initial calculations were made using two state-of-the-art finite-volume upwind codes, CFL3D and USA-PG2, as well as NASCRIN, a code which uses the unsplit finite-difference technique of MacCormack. All of these codes used the same algebraic eddy-viscosity turbulence model. In the experiment, the cowl lip was slightly blunted; however, for the computations, a sharp cowl leading edge was used to simplify the construction of the grid. The second test problem was the supersonic (Mach 3.0) flow in a three-dimensional corner formed by the intersection of two wedges with equal wedge angles of 9.48 degrees. The flow in such a corner is representative of the flow in the corners of a scramjet inlet. Calculations were made for both laminar and turbulent flow and compared with experimental data. The three-dimensional versions of the three codes used for the inlet study (CFL3D, USA-PG3, and SCRAMIN, respectively) were used for this case. For the laminar corner flow, a fourth code, LAURA, which also uses recently-developed upwind technology, was also utilized. The final test case is the two-dimensional hypersonic flow over a compression ramp. The flow is laminar with a free-stream Mach number of 14.1. In the experiment, the ramp angle was varied to change the strength of the ramp shock and the extent of the viscous-inviscid interaction. Calculations were made for the 24-degree ramp configuration which produces a large separated-flow region that extends upstream of the corner.
A three-dimensional, Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes code has been used to numerically analyze flow through a two-strut, supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) inlet configuration. It solves the governing equations in full conservation form using either a fully explicit or explicit-implicit method. An algebraic, two-layer eddy-viscosity model is used for turbulent flow calculations. The analysis allows inclusion of end effects that are caused by the aft placement of the cowl on the underside of the inlet. A special grid has been developed to accommodate the struts embedded in the inlet flowfield. Detailed numerical results are presented here for the two-strut configuration, and a comparison is made with the available experimental results.
A code validation study has been conducted for four different codes for solving the compressible Navier-Stokes equations. Computations for a series of nominally two-dimensional high-speed laminar separated flows were compared with detailed experimental shock-tunnel results. The shock wave-boundary layer interactions considered were induced by a compression ramp in one case and by an externally-generated incident shock in the second case. In general, good agreement was reached between the grid-refined calculations and experiment for the incipient- and small-separation conditions. For the most highly separated flow, three-dimensional calculations which included the finite-span effects of the experiment were required in order to obtain agreement with the data. The finite-span effects were important in determining the extent of separation as well as the time required to establish the steady-flow interaction. The results presented provide a resolution of discrepancies with the experimental data encountered in several recent computational studies.
A computational study of two-dimensional shock vortex interaction is discussed in this paper. A second order upwind finite volume method is used to solve the Euler equations in conservation form. In this method, the shock wave is captured rather than fitted so that the cases where shock vortex interaction may cause secondary shocks can also be investigated. The effects of vortex strength on the computed flow and acoustic field generated by the interaction are qualitatively evaluated.
A general discussion is given on the use of advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) in analyzing the hypersonic flow field around an airbreathing aircraft. Unique features of the hypersonic flow physics are presented and an assessment is given of the current algorithms in terms of their capability to model hypersonic flows. Several examples of advanced CFD applications are then presented.