Design and Analysis of Two-Stage Compression Internal Flowfield Based on Method of Curved-Shock Characteristics

The inlet is one of the key components of the supersonic vehicle. The core of its design is the determination of the inviscid supersonic flowfield. The wave structure directly determines the flowfield performance. Considering the practical application, the inverse design of the supersonic flowfield based on given shocks is of vital importance. The traditional flowfield with a single incident shockwave is simple but its compression efficiency is not high. The method of characteristics (MOC) can not obtain high-order aerodynamic parameters. To expand design patterns, this paper firstly used the method of curved-shock characteristics to illustrate different unit processes of the internal supersonic flowfield. Then the concept and inverse design method of a two-stage compression internal flowfield with pre-assigned incident and reflected shocks were proposed. The corresponding flowfield designed on the basis of this method is in great agreement with numerical results. The dual incident shock waves can improve the compression efficiency and shorten the compression length. This method can realize the controllable distribution of the wave structure and outlet parameters simultaneously. Even under the conditions of the non-uniform incoming flows, the corresponding profile can be obtained. With given shocks, a series of axisymmetric flowfields with a centerbody were solved and analyzed. The influence of the incident and reflected shock angles on aerodynamic and geometric parameters of the flowfield was discussed. The accuracy and efficiency of the method of curved-shock characteristics make it a good candidate didate for the inverse design of plane/axisymmetric supersonic flowfield.