Hypersonics CFD Group



Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes simulation of scramjet inlet flowfield

The forebody of a hypersonic vehicle based on scramjet propulsion acts as an external compression inlet for the engine. A typical configuration consists of compression ramps and wedges. The flow field generated by these compression surfaces is quite complex. In the absence of experimental data, computational fluid dynamics serves as a valuable tool in understanding the flow physics and predicting the characteristics of the inlet configuration. In this paper, a generic hypersonic forebody geometry consisting of compression ramps and side fences is investigated. %The bicurvature nose and the geometric singularity of the fence tips %make grid generation difficult. The shock and surface flow pattern is examined in detail, followed by the surface pressure and heat transfer prediction on the geometry.

Ref: Sinha, K. and Vadivelan, C., "Reynolds-averaged Navier Stokes simulation of scramjet inlet flowfield," Asian CFD conference, Bangalore, India, 2007.



Representative results:


Amplification of turbulent kinetic energy across a normal shock at for different levels of upstream temperature fluctuations.



Amplification of turbulent kinetic energy across a normal shock at for different levels of upstream temperature fluctuations.