A new hypersonic inlet for a turbine-based combined-cycle (TBCC) engine has been designed. This split-flow inlet is designed to provide flow to an over-under propulsion system with turbofan and dual-mode scramjet engines for flight from takeoff to Mach 7. It utilizes a variable-geometry ramp, high-speed cowl lip rotation, and a rotating low-speed cowl that serves as a splitter to divide the flow between the low-speed turbofan and the high-speed scramjet and to isolate the turbofan at high Mach numbers. The low-speed inlet was designed for Mach 4, the maximum mode transition Mach number. Integration of the Mach 4 inlet into the Mach 7 inlet imposed significant constraints on the low-speed inlet design, including a large amount of internal compression. The inlet design was used to develop mechanical designs for two inlet mode transition test models: small-scale (IMX) and large-scale (LIMX) research models. The large-scale model is designed to facilitate multi-phase testing including inlet mode transition and inlet performance assessment, controls development, and integrated systems testing with turbofan and scramjet engines.
[1]
G. A. Mitchell,et al.
Throat-bypass bleed systems for increasing the stable airflow range of a Mach 2.50 axisymmetric inlet with 40-percent internal contraction
,
1973
.
[2]
Saied Emami,et al.
Mach 4 Test Results of a Dual-Flowpath, Turbine Based Combined Cycle Inlet
,
2006
.
[3]
B. W. Sanders.
Dynamic response of a Mach 2.5 axisymmetric inlet and turbojet engine with a poppet-value controlled inlet stability bypass system when subjected to internal and external airflow transients
,
1980
.
[4]
B. H. Anderson.
Design of supersonic inlets by a computer program incorporating the method of characteristics
,
1969
.
[5]
Kenneth L. Suder.
TBCC Fan Stage Operability and Performance
,
2007
.
[6]
Karen F. Cabell,et al.
Propulsion Airframe Integration Test Techniques for Hypersonic Airbreathing Configurations at NASA Langley Research Center
,
2003
.