Application of Compound Compressible Flow to Hypersonic Three-Dimensional Inlets

*† A method for creating a streamline-traced hypersonic shape-changing three-dimensional inlet is presented. This method uses compound compressible flow theory to determine the flow coming into a pre-defined inlet with a given profile at the throat and calculate its performance. A method is also presented for modeling a laminar or turbulent boundary layer to evaluate the inlets performance under viscous flow assumptions and determine the boundary layer correction to the inlet shape. As these inlets are streamline-traced, they have the potential for fewer viscous losses. Two different designs at Mach 6 with a rectangular capture area and circular combustor with a uniform temperature, pressure, and Mach number profile at the throat were evaluated. Comparison with other three-dimensional inlets indicate that inlets designed with this method demonstrate good inviscid performance. These inlets also have the ability to correct non-uniformities in the incoming flow to ensure a desired profile in the combustor.