A New Methodology for Prediction of Shock Intersection Location in Double Cone Scramjet Forebodies

Abstract

Modeling flow around axisymmetric fore bodies is challenging due to the complex flow-fields and three dimensional effects. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to find a way to analytically model the flow in a multi cone configuration which will aid in greatly simplifying the design process of a conical inlet. The paper introduces an approximate method to compute the intersection point of the shocks emerging from a double-cone forebody of a scramjet inlet. This method has been validated using state of the art CFD tools and is also compared with existing hypersonic aircraft designs. The error due to the approximate method when compared to the CFD evaluations is observed to lie between 0.1-6% for multiple combinations of inlet cone angles. Finally, the drawbacks of this method have also been discussed. © 2018, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Inc, AIAA. All rights reserved.