Hypersonic Curved Compression Inlet and Its Inverse Design

Book excerpt: This book presents systematic research results on curved shock wave-curved compression surface applied to the compression surface design of supersonic–hypersonic inlet, which is a brand new inlet design. The concept of supersonic inlet curved compression discussed originated from the author’s research at the Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR SM-ES) in the early 1990s. This book introduces the research history, working characteristics, performance calculation and aerodynamic configuration design method of this compression mode in detail. It also describes method of estimating the minimum drag in inlet and drag reduction effect of curved compression and proposes a new index for evaluating unit area compression efficiency of the inlet. Further, it reviews the relevant recent research on curved compression. As such it is a valuable resource for students, researchers and scientists in the fields of hypersonic propulsion and aeronautics.