Design method for hypersonic bump inlet based on transverse pressure gradient

Transverse pressure gradient (TPG) is one of the key factors influencing the boundary layer airflow diversion in a bump inlet. This paper proposes a novel TPG-based hypersonic bump inlet design method. This method consists of two steps. First, a parametric optimization approach is employed to design a series of 2D inlets with various compression efficiencies. Then, according to the prescribed TPG, the optimized inlets are placed in different osculating planes to generate a 3D bump inlet. This method provides a means to directly control the aerodynamic parameters of the bump rather than the geometric parameters. By performing this method to a hypersonic chin inlet, a long and wide bump surface is formed in the compression wall, which leads to good integration of the bump/inlet. Results show that a part of the near-wall boundary layer flow is diverted by the bump, resulting in a slight decrease in the mass flow but a significant improvement in the total pressure recovery. In addition, the starting ability is significantly improved by adding the bump surface. Analysis reveals that the bump has a 3D rebuilding effect on the large-scale separation bubble of the unstarted inlet. Finally, a mass flow correction is performed on the designed bump inlet to increase the mass flow to full airflow capture. The results show that the mass flow rate of the corrected bump inlet reaches up to 0.9993, demonstrating that the correction method is effective.