Luminescent measurement systems for the investigation of a scramjet inlet-isolator.
Scramjets have become a main focus of study for many researchers, due to their application as propulsive devices in hypersonic flight. This entails a detailed understanding of the fluid mechanics involved to be able to design and operate these engines with maximum efficiency even at their off-design conditions. It is the objective of the present cold-flow investigation to study and analyse experimentally the mechanics of the fluid structures encountered within a generic scramjet inlet at M = 5. Traditionally, researchers have to rely on stream-thrust analysis, which requires the complex setup of a mass flow meter, a force balance and a heat transducer in order to measure inlet-isolator performance. Alternatively, the pitot rake could be positioned at inlet-isolator exit plane, but this method is intrusive to the flow, and the number of pitot tubes is limited by the model size constraint. Thus, this urgent need for a better flow diagnostics method is addressed in this paper. Pressure-sensitive paint (PSP) has been applied to investigate the flow characteristics on the compression ramp, isolator surface and isolator sidewall. Numerous shock-shock interactions, corner and shoulder separation regions, as well as shock trains were captured by the luminescent system. The performance of the scramjet inlet-isolator has been shown to improve when operated in a modest angle of attack.
Faculty of Engineering, National Defence University of Malaysia, Kem Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia. azam.c@upnm.edu.my.
Azam Che
AC
Idris
Faculty of Engineering, National Defence University of Malaysia, Kem Sungai Besi, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia. rashdan@upnm.edu.my.
Mohd Rashdan
MR
Saad
School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, James Watt South Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ,Scotland. Hossein.Zare-Behtash@glasgow.ac.uk.
Hossein
H
Zare-Behtash
School of Engineering, University of Glasgow, James Watt South Building, Glasgow G12 8QQ,Scotland. Kostas.Kontis@glasgow.ac.uk.
Konstantinos
K
Kontis